June / July  2009
The View from Birch Corner
Aligning Purpose, Passion and Performance through Coaching
In This Issue
Leading with Clarity: Aligning Decisions with Values
A Tool for Ranking Values
BCA Web Logo 
 
Join Our Free Mailing List
 
Newsletter Archives
 
Greetings!
 
The summer solstice has past.  Imperceptibly, the days grow shorter as the arc of the sun shifts south.
 
At the peak of the season's fullness, it is fitting to look at our values and take stock of how much we are or are not aligned with them.  If our decisions are fuzzy or difficult to make, it may be because we are not clear about our values.
 
In this edition of The View we encourage you to ask yourself, am I showing up each day with my values as my compass?  If not, what do you choose to do about it?  We have some helpful suggestions in the two articles below.
 
Yours in new beginnings,

Peggy and Bob MacArthur

 
 Leading with Clarity:
Aligning Decisions with Values 

  Bob MacArthur

In the past few months one theme has surfaced repeatedly in our coaching at Birch Corner Associates: focusing on our core values can give us clarity in our decision making.  Clear decision making improves leadership and in some cases enhances personal health. 
 
Two examples illustrate this.  Names and circumstances have been changed to protect confidentiality.
  
Sally:  Providing at all costs
 
Sally is an interior designer who has been a very successful small business owner for many years.  She loves the challenge of developing solutions for her customers and enjoys designing and overseeing the installation of new interiors with her team. 
 
One value that gives her great satisfaction is her ability to provide for her team's livelihood, including health benefits for them and their families.  Members of the team are very loyal to her.    
 
In the current recession Sally found herself spending an increasing amount of time trying to generate new business just to keep her team together.  This took her away from her primary love of design and installation, and it had a huge cost -- the pressure she felt to provide for her team. 
 
Stress compounded
 
Sally's stress was compounded by the termination of a large job and a contentious legal battle.   The conflicts and financial pressures of the past year have taken their toll on her health, and she is currently under her doctor's care for stress related symptoms.   
 

 Getting Clear on Your Values:
 What are Your Top Five? 
 
Your core values are the internal compass that keeps you on your life's course.  Your decisions are based on them.  Your actions reflect them.  Getting clear about what they are is the first step. Living in alignment with them is the next step. (1)  Here is a way to identify your top five.
 
(1) This theme was suggested by Melisa Pearce based on her work with Tony Robbins.   See Anthony Robbins Awaken the Giant Within (Simon and Schuster, New York 1991). 
 
Birch Corner Associates, LLC 
P. O. Box 269
Center Sandwich, NH 03227
(603) 284-7783
 
 
Click here to see past issues of The View From Birch Corner