Where Do You Fit Best?
Abraham Maslow called your inner self the unchanging real self, which contains your natural tendencies—your preferred ways of seeing, feeling, reasoning, deciding, and participating in your society. He proposed that your inner nature is unchanging from childhood until death.
Maslow’s central conclusion was that it is this unique self, this real you, that inscribes where in this world you fit best. The Core Values Index is designed to reveal exactly this: where your highest and best contribution lies.
Work That Causes You to Get Into the Flow
The combination of who you are (the unchanging inner self) and what you are (your personality, skills, competencies, and talents) prescribe where you will find work that is fully engaging, and ultimately fulfilling—work that causes you to get into the flow of things as you perform the tasks required to make the contributions inherent in your job.
This leads to working with a sense of purpose, being fully engaged in work, doing work that uses your most important personal talents and skills. This work puts into service your greatest learning.
Learning Your Next Essential Lesson
When you’re in the right role—one aligned with your core values—something remarkable happens. In the performance of this work, you are called upon to learn your next most essential lesson about who you are. As you perform this work, you refine your skills and talents so you can make a greater contribution in the future.
This is the cycle of growth and contribution that the CVI helps unlock. Rather than struggling against your nature in a misaligned role, you leverage your inner strengths to create maximum impact.
What I Don’t Know About Myself Controls My Life
If you don’t know who you are at the unchanging inner level, you cannot fully comprehend how you operate, how you think, what motivates you, what kind of work causes you to be fully engaged, what your highest and best contribution must be.
Self-knowledge is the cornerstone on which leadership, top performance, and high contribution are built. Without understanding your core values nature, you may find yourself in roles that drain rather than energize you, contributing at a fraction of your true potential.
The Four Paths to Contribution
Each core value type has a distinct path to their highest contribution:
- Builders find their highest contribution through action, results, and making things happen. They need roles where their power to effect change is valued.
- Merchants reach their peak through connection, inspiration, and nurturing others. They thrive when they can build relationships and create harmony.
- Innovators contribute best through problem-solving, strategy, and seeing patterns others miss. They need space to observe, analyze, and create solutions.
- Bankers deliver their highest value through organization, systems, and ensuring quality. They excel when accuracy and thoroughness are essential.
Finding Your Unique Contribution
Your CVI profile reveals not just your primary core value, but the unique combination of all four values that makes you who you are. This combination—your contributor type—points to specific kinds of work where you’ll naturally excel.
When you understand your core values nature, you can make conscious choices about your career path, your role within a team, and the type of work that will bring you fulfillment. Rather than adapting to fit a role, you can find or create roles that fit you.
From Surviving to Thriving
Many people spend their careers in survival mode—doing what’s expected, meeting requirements, but never experiencing the deep engagement that comes from aligned work. The CVI offers a different path.
By revealing your unchanging inner nature, the assessment helps you identify where you can move from merely surviving to truly thriving. This isn’t about finding an easy job—it’s about finding work that challenges you in ways that feel meaningful, that calls forth your best effort because the contribution matters to you at a fundamental level.
Discover Your Highest Contribution
Ready to understand where you fit best and what your highest and best contribution can be? Take the Core Values Index and receive your comprehensive report revealing your unique path to fulfilling work.