Values

When you think about Gandhi, Martin Luther King, or even Steve Jobs, they were all successful because of their ideas and values. People didn't follow them, believe in what they said, or even work for them because they were successful. Instead, people followed them because they believed in the same values.

A value is one of the most important things a person believes and stands for. It's something essential that defines that person. Without their values, people wouldn't be the same.

In this explanation, we will have a closer look at values from a personal point of view and in the workplace. Keep on reading to learn more about them.

Values Definition

To better understand what values are, we need to define them first.

It's important not to mistake someone's values for their beliefs. A value is more than something people care about. A value is a guiding principle that defines a person's actions and behavior. In other words, a person wouldn't be the same if you took away their values.

Having values and caring for something is different. For example, if you feel like generosity is one of your core values, you are always trying to be generous, which impacts most of your actions. In that case, not only would you give all the time to charities, but whenever someone asks for help, you always drive the extra mile for them; you would do a bit of extra work every day to help others and be generous towards all. However, remember that you can be generous without necessarily having generosity as your core value.

Example of Values

Valuegraphics surveyed more than 500.000 people across 152 countries.² This fascinating study shows what values are important to people according to their country.

Here are some examples of values and findings from this survey:

• Family: it's, of course, one value that many can relate to. Family plays a key role in many cultures and can be the center of decisions for many people. A good example representing this family value is Don Corleone in the movie "The Godfather." In this show, all the decisions the Godfather took were for the good of the family, to protect and make it thrive.

• Tradition: traditions and religion play an important ideological and cultural identification role in many countries. It is generally considered an essential value in the Middle East, where people wear traditional clothes daily and have strong religious beliefs.

• Respect: a value we generally associate with the elderly or more experienced people. This value is particularly important in Africa and Central America, more than in other continents.

• Loyalty: it's an essential value in society: we keep loyal to our spouse, the place we work, the people we know, etc.

• Morality: having high morale and doing everything in our power to be good is also a great value; it's also often associated with religious values.

Values Types

Generally, we can consider two value types:

• Individuals: These values are embedded in a person—for example, family, tradition, respect, etc.

• Organizational: these values are embedded in an entire group of people or an organization. For example, France defines its value as "Freedom, equality, and fraternity," the company Apple genuinely believes in creativity, etc.

Beyond the two value types, we can also define values based on different characteristics. For example, we might consider values such as justice, generosity, and empathy positive because they generally impact people and society positively around us. Some other values, such as tradition, morality, or religion, can be regarded as moral values because they intend a higher standard of thinking and respect for our existence.