Values are like signs pointing to a place. We know the place exists, though we may never have been there. We know the value exists though we may never have had the experience.
For example, we see a picture of the place in a magazine. We’ve discovered a place that we want to explore, to visit. There is something about that place that intrigues us, so we want to go there. That attraction is a sign pointing to possibly undiscovered values that matter to us
Here's a personal story to illustrate what I'm saying.
I first visited Yellowstone National Park in 1977 with a
couple guys on a backpacking trip. It
was the first 
time I had ever been trekking in the wilderness. I found Yellowstone a place
of rare and exquisite beauty. I’ve been
back many times since. It is one of my favorite places.
Embedded in that experience for me was the discovery of something I value. It was being a part of something greater than myself. This idea of being apart of something greater than myself is a value that I find in all aspects of my life. It is part of the impetus for me to become a consultant. it is what drives my curiosity, my interest in people, and my passion for leadership. As a result, Yellowstone serves as a sign to me of something greater than myself. And when I'm there, I am more immediately in touch with that value.
I find the same to be true just south in the Grand Tetons. The dramatic presence of these mountains are a sign to me that my place in this world is not central, but integral. In a few short millions of years, the grandeur of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons came into being. In this setting I find that being a part of something greater than myself gives me meaning and purpose.
In a deep and specific sense, I found myself in these wild
places. It wasn’t that I didn’t know who
I was, or
what I valued. For almost 25 years, my focus had been on leadership and community. Rather, I found direction to these interests. Because these interests where not the values that mattered to me, but a context for their expression.
A decade ago, while riding horseback in the mountains across the valley from the Tetons, in a place very similar to the picture here, I heard an interior voice tell me, "It is time to stop talking about leadership, and start leading." I am not one who seeks ecstatic experiences. So, when they occur, I listen.
On horseback that day, I discovered a second value that I did not know I treasured. It is the value of action. As I have come to learn, to lead is to take personal initiative to act. It is the most fundamental act of leadership. In responding to opportunities to lead, and my life changed, and continues to do so to this day.
Being in places like Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons reinforce in me two values that matter supremely - being involved in something greater than myself and acting in the context of leadership. Seeing those mountains are a sign to me of what matters to me.
Values are like pictures. The words represent something meaningful to us. They conjure up in our minds images of situations that demonstrate the values. Then when we encounter those situations, the memory or appreciation of the values becomes immediately present with us. This is why visual images have such a power over us. For example, if you had only read about the 9/11 attacks, and not seen the planes crashing into the World Trade Center, and then their collapse into rumble, you could pass it off as just a local incident, instead of a world changing one.
Values, the words, as ideas, our experience of them, are like pictures because they serve to signal to us what matters most. Whether it is trust, loyalty, courage or being apart of something greater than yourself, the images that accompany values are signs of what matters to us in life.
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