Here’s my contribution to the discussion…

I have found in my coaching that men typically approach life with two different sets of values, one which is a personal set, and one more professionally focused which they use at work. I have heard this referred to as a phenomenon of the 20th century male (and therefore less evident in 21st century men).

Women on the other hand evaluate life and make decisions on one set of values, this driven from their own personal development, which they apply to both personal and professional settings. I’ve heard this referred to as a more holistic approach because of the 20th century (and earlier) role of women in the home and how they bring what they’ve learned their to business.

Regardless of the “century of origin” of the person I’m working with, I do find that their culture also plays a part.

For example, I worked with a male from a particular country who when I suggested we explore his values, said that “values are my wife’s job to teach our children, I’m only here to talk about success.”

So without missing a beat I said, “sure, let’s talk about success” (which is a value) and we talked about other leadership qualities, some of which are also values. The difference is that I never again used the “V-Word” with him and we still achieved what we set out to.

I find this area very interesting and I’m grateful you have shared another valuable resource with us.

Cheers,
Noel
Sydney