Last week in my coaching course, we did an individual exercise to determine our most important values, each narrowing their choices down to their top value. Mine was “Integrity”.
Integrity: “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.” Deriving from the Latin, integer and integritas, meaning intact.
At the end of a great week, I enjoyed a long-planned stay at Woodend in Central Victoria to see Midnight Oil in concert.
In fact, I’d booked it back in March, as soon as it was announced that the band would be performing at nearby Hanging Rock reserve. I’d learnt from previous experience trying to get accommodation would be difficult, so I jumped in early to avoid the rush on finding a bed within a reasonable distance. Sure enough, the week before I got last minute requests from friends (who hadn’t planned ahead) to help them find a bed. I tried to help them out by calling the AirBnB host and seeing how many extra guests they could squeeze in.
Danny, the host of “Island Farm” cottage, advised me he had been receiving calls all day (the day before my booking and the concert) with offers of triple the going rate to cancel my existing booking and take their booking. Fortunately, not only did he refuse those offers, he offered me a couple of extra beds at a minimal cost. When I asked him in person why he didn’t take the offers, Danny told me that it’s not always about the money and that it was about doing the right thing.
We hear so often of businesses not being consistent or displaying integrity when dealing with their customers or honouring bookings. When we get a great customer experience through a display of integrity it really does make an impression.
Imagine if all our interactions with our customers, our staff members and our colleagues were handled with this level of integrity!
What are your most fundamental (core) values?
Try selecting your top 10 out of this list of 230 personal values:
https://scottjeffrey.com/core-values-list/
Take that top 10 down to your top 5 by crossing out 5.
Now one by one, cross out your fifth most important, then fourth, and third until you are down to your top two. Now between those two, make a choice. Cross out the one which you find less important compared to the other.
That’s your most fundamental value. I would love to hear what it is.
Soon, we’ll talk about how your decisions and motivations are aligned with these values.
Darren Sandford is Founder and Managing Director of Darren Sandford Consulting and Coaching. With extensive experience in IT, banking, finance and creative photography, he is a qualified trainer and assessor, and a business and personal coach. He works with organisations and individuals to enable them to unlock their potential and achieve results they hadn’t thought possible.
Contact Darren: https://darrensandford.com/contact/
