What is something meaningful to you that helps answer the question, “What do I stand for?” This question helps us define our personal core values.

Even though you are made up of many amazing and unique components, your personal core values are the motor forcing things into action. Your personal core values are the engine of life.

As an entrepreneur, I have had the honor of researching, observing, leading, managing, training, and coaching highly influential people. I have come to learn that helping people discover their personal core values is one of the keys for me to live out a life of meaningful purpose.

A personal core value of mine is commitment. A while back, I heard commitment defined as: “You are either in or you are out. There’s no life in between.” It means everything to me that people can count on my word, while I also hold people accountable for theirs.

Discovering your personal core values helps you understand who you are and why you make the decisions you do. As a result, you are maximizing your potential as a person and as a leader.

There are five keys to unlocking your purpose: personal core values, strengths, passions, life experiences, and gifts.

A great resource to help you discover these core values in yourself is John Maxwell’s Leadership Values Cards.

Only by understanding what you value most can you be the leader you want to become. Only by knowing what your people value can you touch their hearts and become the leader they want. With the Values Cards exercise, you can start that road to understanding relational and values-based leadership.

By Robb Holman