What does it mean to be a Values-Driven Professional?

I've spent my entire professional life grappling with this concept. Through my own journey, being a values-driven professional has come to mean looking at my intrinsic needs. Really identifying, understanding and living out my core values. Realizing that my core values are not always in alignment with what I see in my world. Yet, realizing that when I move away from my core values, that I lose my soul and passion for what I'm doing.

In black and white terms, I'd say being a values-driven professional is the opposite of a profit-driven professional. In what I do and for most of my clients, the career has very little to do with money (beyond making a comfortable living, however that is defined), and more to do with making a difference in some way. Making a difference begins with figuring out the cause or mission that resonates. For some it's strengthening and supporting the environment, for others its helping the poor and those in need, you get the point. For me, the answer was never that clear cut, I never had a specific cause that spoke to me, but knew that there had to be some cause out there. In time, I found that my cause was educating others and looking at the ways we were developing our young people to be better citizens (not just corporate citizens). As I look at my cause now, it is still about educating others, but also helping those who are values-driven find their voice through service so that they can make the contribution that they want and feel they are supposed to make.

As I've thought about the words that I'd use to describe the clients that I work with and support, I've run the gamut. Many people who follow me on LinkedIn know this as I have changed my definition numerous times. It hasn't been easy finding the right way to connect the term with what will resonate for a group of folks who are like-minded. I've thought about words like mission-driven professional, but that assumes someone who has good intentions has the clarity of cause. I believe the term mission-driven comes in time, but not necessarily out of the gate. I used the term purpose-inspired, but since this can be a scary proposition to move in this direction in the first place, I thought it might be difficult for say the accountant or IT person from a traditional background who wants more meaning to begin to move in a different direction.

I've found this conversation to be one that I know speaks to a lot of people, but they must be able to embrace it on their terms and in there time. What I've come to realize is the term values-driven professional covers many folks and at the same time, it speaks to them where they are in their process regardless of their current level of clarity. It's a deeper-level conversation that speaks to their intrinsic needs to be able to make a contribution in some way, while providing them with greater professional purpose and meaning. It's also the road less traveled and can feel daunting at times, but important to know that real change in the world will come by them taking the steps to move in a different direction. I feel by helping others move in this direction as professionals, leaders and agents of change, then I'm fulfilling my own professional calling.