When you sit down for a job interview, it’s almost guaranteed that one of the questions asked during the barrage of interrogation. Is for you to provide a list of characteristics that describe you [or how your colleagues would describe you] and explained the reasoning for these attributes.  I have been on the receiving end of this question, sweating to articulate and craft the perfect answer, which one hopes hits the keywords the interviewer wants to hear.   In all honestly, I can never remember exactly what I said when I walked out of the room. But I have also been on the delivering end of those questions as part of an interview panel and I find it always so fascinating to hear the answers people give.  By all accounts, it’s one of the hardest questions, because it asked you to not only be true to yourself and share what values are important characterizes. But it also puts labels on yourself, and in a sense lets, strangers cast judgment. How many people are actually honest when they deliver the answers to those questions?

When you think about it, this should be one of the easiest questions to answer. We have the full power to control the answer as to what our core values are. However if you are anything like me, you really have never put the time and effort into thinking about what drives your sense of purpose in the world. Defining our core values give us purpose, helps us to make decisions and fulfill our own expectations without making bad choices.  In all, we should have crafted the answer to these questions years ago, and easily be able to outline in great detail what values and characteristics define us.

In this journey to refining myself to be a better man, I was asked to define my own core values. It was a stark reckoning that I had never thought in-depth about this question on a personal level before. This is not to say that core values and ethics do not govern my life, or that I had no experience with them.  As an officer in the Canadian Forces for the past two decades, the CAF values and Leadership Principles are instilled in me [Integrity, Loyalty, Courage, Stewardship, and Excellence].  It would be easy to say “well those are my core values”, but are there more than just the professional values that are truly important to me as a man?  I took some time to think it over, talk with some close friends who provide that raw advice, and really contemplated this question from all angles.  If I am looking to honestly improve myself as a man, then what do I truly value in life? When I started it seemed like this was to be like crossing the Swiss Alps, but the final outcome is something that I am indeed proud to say is truly important to me and defines the values I hold high in my life.  Now yes, some intermix with those of my professional carrier and it goes without saying, that 20 years in the army will do that, and should do that to a man dedicated to serving his country.

What I have come up with is a list as follows:

1. Family is of fundamental importance: This not only encompasses my immediate family but extends to the bonding relationship that I have with close friends and colleagues.  The people in my life that you would drop what you are doing to travel across the country to provide assistance, and know they would do the same. The phone calls that are always answered event in the dead of night, and that you can count on each other for everything no matter what.

2. Respect:  Not only self-respect but the respect of others regardless of differences. Valuing everyone's options, dignity, empathy, and compassion for what they bring to the table.

3. Lead by Example: The personal efforts that lead me to make a positive impact on individuals, systems, and organizations that I associate with and belong to. While additionally instilling ethics, integrity, and moral fortitude on the same.   

4. Courage & Perseverance: To stand up for those who are unable to and possess the strength of self to act with intention on behalf of the common good.

5. Service to Others: A commitment to make the world a better place while extending beyond one’s own self-interest, and for humanity.   

When I now sit back and look at this list of the five core values which define and guide me as a person, I think that this task should not be as hard as I had made it out to be. It event better articulates my personal motto of “I shall pass through this world but once”. The words written above emphasize and instill a statement that as a man you only have one chance to make a lasting mark on this world, and we must do it right as there is no second trip through. The actions, and moments we have today impact the lives of others and are recounted in history as the way in which we lead our own life.   

Yours until the fall of civilization