Running head: CORE VALUES, V.I.P.E.R. !

Core Values: V.I.P.E.R

Scott Salsman

Azusa Pacific University

CORE VALUES, V.I.P.E.R. !2

Core Values, V.I.P.E.R

Core values come from a variety of places. Many of these values come from family, faith

traditions, lived experiences and many other influences. What is important about these values is

that they govern who we are and why we think the way that we do. Understanding right and

wrong is something that is foundational to our learning. We learn this simple difference early on

in life. The real issue comes when we have to pick the lesser of two wrongs and the better of two

rights; this is ethics. These challenges are presented to us daily. How can one navigate these

inevitable questions while still holding on to what they value in their own code of ethics? This is

a difficult challenge but one that can be accomplished in one stays true to their core values. For

this paper I will be discussing my personal core values and how they were learned from family,

how my early experiences have shaped those values. I will also look at those who influenced my

values and how in turn they have made me want to work in the student affairs profession. For

this paper I will be using the core value acronym of V.I.P.E.R to help articulate my core values

and how they relate to the above questions.

First, what is V.I.P.E.R? V.I.P.E.R stands for Value other intentionally; Keep you

Integrity; be Present over perfect; Excellence displayed; and Rethink and Reimagine. Many

of these values I feel I inherited from my family and some feel like they could not be further

away from my families approach to situations. The value that I most closely associate with my

family would be integrity. They have always said to me that it does not matter what you do in

life, as long as you have your integrity and stay true to yourself you cannot go wrong. I do truly

believe this and a majority of this belief comes through in my faith. I grew up in a Christian

home and these values were incredibly important to my family. Early on I challenged many of
CORE VALUES, V.I.P.E.R. !3

my families values. I think that this is represented in my value of present over perfect. My family

is very much a fast paced always moving need to be there kind of family. They want everything

to be perfect anywhere they go to the point where it causes high stress levels for those around

them. I have definitely challenged this value as I have grown older and decided that this is not a

value that I want close to me. I have attempted to incorporate my value of slowing down and

accepting the outcomes of situations even when they are not perfect.

I believe that I have challenged these values because of some of my experiences in

college. During my undergraduate years, my faith grew exponentially and I have started to veer

away from my family beliefs. I have adopted the value of being present over perfect when I got

to college. I was a collegiate baseball player so baseball was always at the core of my life.

Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon is known for his odd quotes but the two that have stuck with

me and that I have adopted into my life are Do simple, better and be present over perfect.

Both of these values would challenge my families, but I have come to adopt them into my

everyday life and they truly help govern whom I am. I decided to rethink these values because of

the experiences in my life. Rethinking your families is something that happens over time. Sharon

Parks says that the challenging of ones family values is a crucial part of development. This stage

is called fragile inner dependence and it is where ones views are being balanced with previously

learned ideas (Parks, 1987). What is ironic is that Reimagine is one of my core values. I was

challenged in my Student Learning in the co-curriculum course to think divergently and rethink

what has been done before. I believe that his has always been at the root of who I am but that

course really influenced me to bring it out into my everyday life and gave me the language to

articulate my belief.
CORE VALUES, V.I.P.E.R. !4

There have been many people that have influenced my life as a student affairs

professional and I believe that they have impacted my life because they have helped shape my

values. One of the most impactful authors that I have read is Henri Nouwen. In his book The

Wounded Healer (Nouwen, 1990). Nouwen discusses the impact of leading through

brokenness. I had no idea the significant impact this book would have on my learning until I

entered the student affairs profession. In my V.I.P.E.R acronym the V stands for valuing others

intentionally. In Nouwens book he talks about how we are not perfect leaders, but we can value

others without needing to know all of the answers. This truly shaped how I view my own

leadership skills. Another speaker and author that changed my core values was Patrick Lencioni.

He was a speaker at the Global Leadership summit and he discussed how you can use your

integrity to lead and that we can be good leader simply by placing the others around us on the

same level (Lencioni, 2002). Understanding that each person is a human being and they deserve

value simply because they breath is was so impactful for me. Lastly the R in V.I.P.E.R is for

rethinking how things have been done. I attribute this value to my desire to always figure out

how something works and how I can better it. I believe that this value came into fruition after

taking Student Learning in the Co-curricular. The course gave me the language to express what I

have always enjoyed doing and that is rethinking what has been done previously and expanding

my knowledge to better understand how systems work.

I feel that my core values influence how I work with college students because I believe

that we are called to help others. As a Christian and as a student affairs professional I feel that I

am called to help others effectively and efficiency but by leading in Christs love. One of the

difficult things with my leadership style is how I want to be as efficient as possible but in doing
CORE VALUES, V.I.P.E.R. !5

so I cannot fully invest into what I am doing. I have adopted the value of Excellence displayed or

over excellence over efficiency because for me this is a reminder that being invested and always

putting forth the best work of being fully honest and present with a student is more important

that how efficient of fast I can get something done. I believe that I am a relational person by

nature and my core values represent that. I think that these values are important in my daily

work. I want to value students in their experiences. I want to keep my integrity as I work with

these students. I want to be present with students and understand that I am human and that me

being present with them is more important than being perfect for them. I want to display

excellence in my life and treat each interaction as sacred and give each student my best, and

lastly I want to reimagine what it means to be an educator. I want to show these students that

challenge the norm is okay and that if they are not satisfied with something change it. These are

my core values and I believe that if I stay true to these values I will be able to be the student

affairs professional I want to be but more importantly the man that God has created me to be.
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References

Lencioni, P. M. (2007). The Five Dysfunctions of a team: A leadership fable. San Francisco:

John Wiley & Sons.

Nouwen, H. J. M. (1990). Wounded healer: Ministry in contemporary society. New York, NY:

The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group.

Parks, S. (1987). The critical years: The young adult search for a faith to live by. Authors

response. Horizons, 14(02), 357363. doi:10.1017/s0360966900037889