Who Are You?

A friend of mine recently sent me a values test. He knows of the work that we do with executives and teams around the concept of values and thought I might find it interesting. Of course, I've taken and administered hundreds of values tests over the years, but this one was a little different. Instead of asking me to choose the words that resonated most with me, this one was told as a story. I was then asked to rate the characters to help identify my values.

It was a very interesting little test, but when I finished it I started to wonder. What if my wife were to take this same profile trying to answer as I would? Would her responses identify the same values in me that I see in myself?

What if I gave this profile to my best friend and asked him to answer as he thought I would?

What if I gave it to my business partner?

Or my employees?

How different would their view of my values be from my view? And which values are really mine?

Are the values that I identify as important to me who I really am, or are the values that others see the real me?

This question may not be as obvious as it sounds. Regardless of how I view myself and say what is important to me, the way others view me speaks volumes about the values that I am actually living. And clearly the values that I am living are the values that are truly the most important. In fact, this view that others have of me is how they perceive me and therefore how they react to me. Obviously this can be very beneficial in uncovering my blind spots: those things that others see in me that I don't see in myself.

This most certainly holds true for my values, but what about my communications? While I may view my communications as clear and crisp, others may view my communication as overbearing and impersonal.

What about my style of leadership? While I may view my style as direct and goal oriented, others may view it as rigid and even wrong focused.

Looking in a mirror allows us to see ourselves through our own eyes. But as leaders, it is important to look at ourselves through the eyes of others. And as a leader, getting honest feedback from our peers and subordinates can be challenging.

This is where ECI Learning can assist you. With our variety of confidential, web-based 360 tools we can help identify the blind spots in your organization and assist you in creating training and personal development tools to strengthen your organization, improve productivity and increase profitability.

At ECI Learning Systems LLC, we are dedicated to helping companies get the greatest return from their most valuable asset: their employees. We work with you to align 3 key organizational factors:
• Your Company Culture
• The Leadership Styles of your key managers
• The Expectations of your Employees

When these 3 factors are aligned, you create an energy in your company that improves productivity, reduces absenteeism, increases creativity, and positively impacts your bottom line. Contact ECI Learning Systems LLC today to get your free Workplace Evaluation.


Until next time.....

Dave Meyer
ECI Learning Systems, LLC
http://www.ecilearning.com/