Understanding values is of critical importance to a coach working with individuals and especially teams. A clear understanding will enable a coach to work out and then address why a team who appear to be all buying in to the same set of values are not getting on. The reason is to do with value priorities.

Values exist and have meaning only within a web of other values, not in isolation. For example, if I say that honesty is important to me, then you might expect that I will always tell the truth. But in fact just knowing that honesty is important to me will give you little idea as to whether I will always tell the truth unless you know the priority I place on honesty relative to my other values. For example, if I place a higher priority on being liked, then I may not give you honest feedback if I fear doing so would alienate you.

This is an example with just two values - the situation gets much more complex when our top ten or twenty values are in play. It also means that people with shared values, but with different value priorities, may often behave in radically different ways. Thus, in working with an individual or an organisation, it is not enough to know what their values are - you must also explore their value priorities. And, if you want to help that individual or organisation change, then the best strategy is to help them reprioritise their most important values, not for them to more highly prioritise their less important values.