Defining your values at work

Coffee is a value right?

Whether you’ve overtly considered them or not, you have a set of values that guide you and help determine your priorities.

When things are going well, there’s a good chance your actions are aligned with these values. But when there’s discordance between your actions and your values, it creates discomfort.

For instance, one of my personal values is family. But when I can’t spend quality time with my family because we’re all so busy, I start to feel off.

A few months into the COVID lockdown, I took the Science of Well-Being course from Yale Online (highly recommend.) One of the lessons was about figuring out your values to improve your wellbeing.

With the guidance laid out in the course, I eventually determined the values I want to stay true to in my personal life. It wasn’t until last month that I realized I hadn’t determined values for my career.

In healthcare, there are a lot of competing priorities that can make you feel uneasy. (Anyone who has missed an important event because of work will get it.) Furthermore, as I’ve come to realize, there are a lot of challenging decisions in medicine.

That’s why determining my work values has been a game-changer. I have four main values that I focus on for my career:

1. Compassion

2. Openness

3. Longevity

4. Integrity

When I have a decision to make, I look towards my values to guide me. For instance, I have a really hard time taking sick days. Which is unfortunate because I have a toddler in daycare who frequently needs to stay home and passes along his illnesses to me. What’s helped is to remind myself of my personal value (family) and my career value (longevity) to ease my discomfort when taking necessary sick days.

It’s also helped me when it comes to patient care. I know I’m going to act with integrity and openness, which includes saying “I don’t know” as a phrase on repeat, and admitting when I’ve made a mistake.

When I’m faced with a patient yelling at me, I remind myself of my value of compassion. I can prioritize my safety while also being aware of how hard of a time this patient must be having.

If you want to improve your satisfaction at work, it’s worth jotting down some values to help guide you.

Stay well friends,

Dr. Kuhnow