Identity and Values

Describe your core personal values

My values are:

Transparency: being honest and open with others.
Authenticity: being true to myself.

An example of this is my past career experience, the culture of the legal profession did not sit well with me. It was not one I wanted to advance in and be compliant to. My friends in the legal profession agree with me, the evidence being my departure and pursuit for another path that reflects my values better.

Explain a situation where you have had an ethical decision to make. Discuss how you weighed up the values involved in that decision, the decision you made, and the consequences of your action.

Conflict of interest, ethical obligation advising on enduring powers of attorney but it was not in the client's best interest for me to act for both. I would have liked to, because I wanted to do the best for my clients and ensure they got the best advice but because of the perceived conflict it would protect their interests more to have sent the person to another lawyer for legal advice. Weighted up the legal consequences, my duties to the client and their interests. Consequence: client's interests were protected by sending them to get independent legal advice so they knew exactly what they were signing without being influenced by myself or the other party.

Describe how your culture has influenced your values and identity.

Being inbetween cultures as a Chiwi (chinese kiwi) has made a unique impact on my values and identity. I neither identify as one or the other and sometimes it does feel lonely, not ever feeling completely accepted in either culture. It has made me try harder to be more likeable identity wise in the journey for acceptance. My identity is never one or another and seems to change, depending on the situation. For example, when I return to Hong Kong, I adopt my chinese name as it makes things easier when interacting with others. In NZ I use my English names. This has made me highly adaptable and I am therefore not scared of being in unfamiliar situations as a result. My values are another story, both values in kiwi and Chinese culture have created a unique blend shared by many other 3rd/4th generation chiwis such as myself. In Chinese culture, we are highly community orientated and care greatly for our reputation. Hence why we have a strong work ethic because we do not want to tarnish this reputation our ancestors have worked hard for from when they immigrated to NZ. However, sometimes my cultural background conflicts with my values. For example, Chinese culture is to "work hard, keep your head down", even if there is an issue, just keep your head down. Whereas in Western culture, especially my generation, if there is an issue, we are taught to voice it and not stand for something unjust. My family and friends attribute this Western culture/quality in me as one of the reasons I became a lawyer- because I stand by my values and am not scared to speak out if something does not sit right with me.

Evaluate your strengths and limitations in terms of your learning and career development

Strengths: value driven, adaptable, analytical. Limitations: difficulty establishing a consistent identity that I am happy with- because I adapt in most situations, who am I really? This is a limitation because for my own wellbeing, I need to be true to myself so it does not drain my energy trying to maintain a persona. I also want people to feel comfortable with knowing who I am to facilitate deepening of relationships and building trust.

Identify which of your strengths might help you in your learning journey and how they intersect with learning obstacles.

Analytical and adaptability will certainly help in problem solving, adapting to new situations and teams. Such as an obstacle where there is a complex, unfamiliar challenge. I would step back, analyse the situation calmly and then work with my team members and adapt to see the best working style that suits our team.

Share an example from your experience of where you were trying to work productively with others, but there was resistance or tension. Discuss the strategies you used at that time, how effective they were, and your reflections on what other strategies you would try now and why.

I had a demanding client who acted as if they were my only client, there was tension because even though they were demanding, they did not value the work that was done and always complained about our bill. The client did not like engaging us but had to for legal work and likewise, it was not pleasant engaging with them. Strategies used:

Kept the client informed as to what the work was, how much it would cost, the reason for the cost and the type of work.
Clarified client's instructions to undertake work so it was on their order, and not a surprise cost.
Set boundaries with the client, e.g. urgent work cost more/esp. outside of work hours.

These were effective methods because the client became happier when they felt they were in control of the process. They also appreciated saving themselves costs by not contacting me for escalated work that was not actually urgent. In the future if I were to have clients again, I would set expectations at the outset to avoid any tension. If there is tension, the expectations set out at the start work as a benchmark to refer to throughout the client relationship.