A values-based approach to decision making can help you clarify what matters most to you. When you are clear on your values, it becomes easier and more purposeful to say yes, no, or not now. Decisions feel less reactive and more intentional.

It can also increase motivation. When a task genuinely aligns with your values, you are more likely to engage with it fully and sustain your effort over time.

The difficulty is that many of us struggle to articulate our values clearly. Day to day pressures can pull us away from them, and without that connection we may find ourselves committing to activities without a compelling reason for doing so.

Think about the decisions you’ve had to make about your commitments over the past week: a request to join a committee or review a paper, an invitation to lead a work-package on a grant, to act as external examiner. What truly aligns with your values and the things you want to feel proud of in your career and life? Whilst some of these activities might be non-negotiable, others might be for another time or could be adapted slightly to ensure they allow you to really live your values. For example, if one of the things that is really important to you is nurturing early-career researchers, how might you bring that value into the grant work package?

The first step is to identify your values. You might do that through selecting from a list such as the one here: The Ultimate List of Core Values (Over 220 Examples) or completing pages 33-36 in the FLF Research Leadership Workbook.

Select a top ten and then whittle down to three to five values that are really core to what matters to you. Of course, all of these are important to some extent. It might be easier to ask yourself: if this value wasn’t fully present in the work you’re doing, would I still feel happy doing it?

Now that you’ve identified some key values, think about what these actually look like when operationalised in your day-to-day experience. For example, if ‘adventure’ is a key value for you, what does that mean for your choices about work? When is ‘adventure’ present for you in the workplace and is there an opportunity to tweak anything in how you are working to invite more of this in?

What trade-offs might you have to make?

And what do you know about the values that your collaborators and colleagues hold?

If you hold very different values, could this be potential cause of conflict or confusion about where you place your priorities? Could you include some value-based activities or discussions in some of your meetings or priority setting discussions?