Lesson 6 | An Introduction to Values (6:21 minutes)
An introduction to Values
Hi there, I'm Chris Venn from Legacy. I want to take a few minutes to chat with you about values. Now, values are a slippery slope, they're loaded with emotion, with rules, with beliefs, all kinds of things, however, they're also extremely powerful from a planning perspective. If you want to take your planning from a solid level of planning up to off the charts and really create experiences for your wealth holders, that are dramatically different than others, and they'll be truly meaningful in their lives, then you want to get involved in addressing their values.
First, let's talk about vision, values, and goals. We've got these three things, so vision is, we've talked about before, but vision is a desired future state. So, this is an above the line issue, all three of these are above the line issues, and vision is, how do you want it to be one day? And why is that important to you? How do you want to look, sound, feel? How would you know if you were having a successful future? How do you want it to be? What's that desired future state?
Values are the rules by which we're going to get there. There's a lot of ways to get to a vision. You might have a vision, a leader might have a vision of a powerful nation, respected by the world, a strong economy, a strong education, and no ones going to mess with them. Well, that was Hitler's vision. It's the values, the rules he brought to that were horrific, but that was his vision. And just looking at the vision I was like, "Well, yeah. Those sound like good things." Until, you look at how that's going to happen. So, values are how. Goals are the steps that you're going to take to get to that vision, so you apply values to the goals that are going to get you to that vision, so here's the rules.
So, values are kind of like ... It's kind of like a filter. So, you're looking through a filter all the time, and if you look through a filter long enough you forget that you're actually looking through a filter. It's like wearing sunglasses all day long, and then you get to a spot where you don't really realize you're wearing sunglasses. Well, you take them off and things are really different than when you have them on ... obviously a lot brighter. And everything we look at we're looking at through the filter of our values. On the surface it doesn't sound like a big deal, but once you get under the surface just a little bit, it has a huge impact on things.
For example, if someone has a value of getting to the point, "You got to get to the point," and you are an extremely diligent financial advisor. You create a financial plan that's 142 pages long with every scenario and all the data and all the supporting information, and you want to make sure that they absolutely get it, they understand that their future is safe and solid and that they're clear on it. When they get that, they might be furious or frustrated or annoyed because, "Get to the point!" That's their value. Now, it doesn't mean that being thorough is not their value, but it might be a higher value for you than them.
So, these values are playing out all the time. By you understanding the values that are at play in your wealth holders, a few things happen. First and foremost, you get to respect them. You get to honor them. The second is you get to make sure that you apply those values to the planning process.
So, if someone absolutely has values around protection, must be safe, must be safe, must be safe, then everything's going to be a bomb shelter inside of a bomb shelter inside of a bomb shelter because that matters to them. But it also helps you understand how to present information and how to make sure that the way that you bring solutions to them is brought in a way that they can actually easily receive. By honoring someone else's values, you actually make it dramatically more easy for them to say yes to good solutions. So, we want to handle the values.
Now, values sound great. They're altruistic. Values. Who doesn't want to have good values? I'd like to pass on my values as well as my valuables.
However, as noble as all of it sounds, you actually need to back up and take a look at what a value is. A value is a need that a person has based on some experience or belief that they've formed. Now, does that mean it's true? No. Because I value punctual doesn't mean that someone who's not punctual can't be successful. I know people who are very in the moment. Timelines don't matter to them. Being on time isn't a big deal, but being present really matters to them. I know people who it totally matters to them for them to be on the timeline, accurate, not late for anything, everything always created. So, these are two schools of thought around values around time, or the use of time and how time works.
So, think about it. Somebody who is through time is on the schedule, making things move, action oriented, all of this. Wonderful. However, the downside is they may be missing all kinds of opportunities to really connect with people and have powerful moments.
You have a person who's very in time, time's like a location that they're in, and so they're not worried about it moving or getting off the timeline, and they get in the moment and they are present and connected and have these incredible experiences with people, but the downside is they may not be moving in the ways that want to, or it may be frustrating other people.
Either way, so, which one's right? Well, probably whichever one you connect is the one that you probably feel is right. The point is this. Values are needs, and they're personal needs, and it doesn't mean that they're right. Now, if a person has applied values and it's allowed them to create a certain degree of success in their lives, fantastic. Do you want to pass on those messages or those lessons? Sure. But imposing them on someone else isn't always the right way to do it because you can be successful either way, and that's only one value that we're talking about of tons of values.
So, when it comes to values, realize it's not always so altruistic and beautiful. These are needs that people have, so be cautious about wanting to pass on your needs to the next generation. At the same time, be highly cognizant of understanding what are the needs, what are the values of your clients and make sure that you honor them in how you interact with the client and how you build the plan.