The role of values clarification in coaching and its impact

Posted on July 11, 2024 by Pascale Gemayel, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.

Limiting belief, a word that took me a long time to realize how much it is affecting my life and in fact limiting my personal development and blocking me from being successful.

After going through the process of awakening and realizing that the path I was taking is no longer serving me, my coach helped me realize that I need to go back to the core, and the first exercise we did was figuring out my values and how I can rely on them to act.

Before we get deeper into how values impact our decisions and how with coaching those values are clarified, we need to understand first the definition of values and what coaching purpose is.

“When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” Roy Disney

I. The definition of values: There are varying viewpoints of what values are, although they all go back to one meaning here are some of the definitions:
• John Blakey’s definition of values states that: “Values are simply the things that are important to you in life. They are the characteristics and behaviors that motivate us and guide our decisions”. • According to Rokeach, “Value is an enduring belief, a specific mode of conduct or an end state of existence, along a continuum of relative importance.”
• The Cambridge Oxford Dictionary definition is the principles that help you to decide what is right and wrong, and how to act in various situations.
• According to Adam Sicinski, Values are: “a set of standards you have for life. They are the things you believe are most important to the way you live, work, and play. Values are priorities that show us how we should be spending our time throughout the day”.
• Christie Inge says “Your personal core values define who you are and what matters to you as an individual. Ideally, your values establish where you invest your time, energy, and resources”. • My personal favorite definition is the one of Randa Karime Mcc coach: “Values are something dear to your heart, and you base your life decisions upon them.”

Basically, values in our lives work like a compass navigating us to move forward, they are insights on how we think and by what metrics we measure success or failure. They help us get unstuck to move forward with purpose, the total opposite of the limiting beliefs. To go even deeper into the importance of values, we should mention the theory of Professor Shalom H. Schwartz social psychologist about “basic human values”. This theory offers a universal model outlining ten broad values that steer human behavior. These include power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self-direction, universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, and security.

The Nature of Values When we think of our values, we think of what is important to us in life. Each of us holds numerous values (e.g., achievement, security, benevolence) with varying degrees of importance. A particular value may be very important to one person but unimportant to another. The value theory (Schwartz, 1992, 2006a) adopts a conception of values that specifies six main features that are implicit in the writings of many theorists:
1. Values are beliefs linked inextricably to affect. When values are activated, they become infused with feeling.
2. Values refer to desirable goals that motivate action. People for whom social order, justice, and helpfulness are important values are motivated to pursue these goals.
3. Values transcend specific actions and situations. This feature distinguishes values from norms and attitudes that usually refer to specific actions, objects, or situations.
4. Values serve as standards or criteria. Values guide the selection or evaluation of actions, policies, people, and events. People decide what is good or bad, justified, or illegitimate, worth doing or avoiding, based on possible consequences for their cherished values.
5. Values are ordered by importance relative to one another. People’s values form an ordered system of priorities that characterizes them as individuals.
6. The relative importance of multiple values guides action. Any attitude or behavior typically has implications for more than one value. Mainly, as reflected by Shwartz theory, values are important to motivate and guide our actions and the importance of each value varies from one person to another.

II. The coaching purpose: Coaching serves a significant purpose in guiding individuals towards personal and professional growth. Its primary objective is to support and empower individuals to unlock their full potential and achieve their goals.
ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

Whether in the realms of career, relationships, or personal development, coaching helps individuals gain clarity and take intentional actions. Based on my personal experience, I can say that gaining clarity, in coaching sessions, of my core values and my ultimate purpose in life directed me into making better decisions, setting higher goals, and achieving successful results. Coaching helps you get a better version of yourself, and a better approach to your life. It provides guidance in self-awareness, self-reflection and so on. Let’s connect the dots!
The coaches circle academy with the transcendence model clarifies that human beings are “systems within systems” or “underlying systems” and one essential one is value system.

That’s the reason why coaches in the session ask the following questions: What values are you honoring here? What values are you not honoring? What makes this topic important to you?
You will be amazed at how many times during the session I have been asked, following these questions: what do you mean by values? Unfortunately, same as my own experience in the past, some people are not aware or conscious of their personal values. Therefore, since value systems can be “partly or wholly unconscious”, values clarification is an informative exercise for both the client and their coach.

That is, values clarification can help a coach better understand what a client wants out of the coaching session (and life in general), but it can also do the same for a client themselves if their values were unconscious. Since value systems can be unconscious, values clarification can be helpful both in and out of a coaching session. Values are chosen consequences that can never be fulfilled. Rather, they serve as motivation for certain behavioral directions. “Values clarification is a process for identity development, decision making, and rewarding living. [Clarity] on the client’s goals, options, and action strategies is central to the coaching process, whether in business, professional, or personal settings.” Howard Kirschenbaum Whereas goals can be achieved, values cannot be achieved.

That being said, it is better to help coachees to align their goals with their values, so that the things they are trying to achieve are things that they essentially find important and allow them to experience meaning. The Effects of Having Clear Values Source: Values Clarification in Counseling, Howard Kirschenbaum

Whether they know it or not, values have a central role in their life. Determining what they are will provide the core prerequisite for balanced life: clarity! It is recommended to conduct a values clarification very early in the coaching partnership, it will allow the coachee to see their successful journey very clearly. As coaches, we have an exceptional opportunity to help people get in touch with their core values. When they gain that clarity and sense of purpose, seemingly everything becomes easier: making decisions, choosing the next steps, recognizing sooner when they’re off-track. The confidence and fulfillment that come with living and working in alignment with their values allows them to flourish with meaning and purpose.

Dr. Awdhesh Singh says: “Values are the measures you use to figure out whether or not your life is turning out the way you had imagined.” Therefore, values act like a GPS that helps you stay on track and focused on the most important things in your life. To sum up, when what you do and how you behave is consistent with your values or your why, then you will know that you are on the right path. Talking about the values and the “why” we need to mention the golden circle© (see above) according to Simon Sinek in his book “start with your why”. He explains that each leader thinks and acts differently than most people. Usually, the way we think,the way we act, and the way we communicate is from the outside in. We go from the clearest thing to the fuzziest thing but on the other hand, the inspired people (leaders) all think, act, and communicate from the inside out. But here’s the best part, biologically if we look at a cross-section of the human brain, from the top down, the human brain is actually broken into three major components that correlate perfectly with the golden circle©. Our neocortex corresponds with the “what” level. The neocortex is responsible for all of our rational and analytical thought and language. The middle two sections make up our limbic brains, and our limbic brains are responsible for all of our feelings, like trust and loyalty. It’s also responsible for all human behavior, all decision-making.

Many clients come to coaches because they have difficulty making and following through with decisions simply because they don’t know their “why” and their values! As coaches we have a responsibility to partner with those clients to raise their awareness and gain more clarity on the values they should be honoring. But it should not stop by just being aware of the values and their “why” (purpose), we need to coach them as well on “how” they will be transforming this new learning about themselves into making better decisions and act!

“Living into our values means that we do more than profess our values, we practice them. We walk our talk – we are clear about what we believe and hold important, and we take care that our intentions, words, thoughts, and behaviors. align with those beliefs.” Brene Brown, Ph.D., in a discussion about living our values in her book, “Dare to Lead”

PASCALE GEMAYEL
Leadership coach