Steven Gerrard, football hero to me and thousands others, misses his mum. Having just read his autobiography, one of the things that comes out clearly is what a family boy and man he has been all his life. From his early years growing up in Liverpool, you could hear in every word how much community, friends and especially relatives were important in his development.

Belonging was and is key to him, whether it is in the home or at Liverpool FC where it has been a feature in his success.

The story that really brings it home is his description of his first tournament trip away with England. "Homesickness ruined Euro 2000 for me". He could handle 7 days away but before they even got to Belgium for the tournament proper he had been away 10 and was looking at potentially another 5 weeks. He talks very candidly about weighing up the huge excitement of being picked for his first big tournament to play alongside his idols like Alan Shearer and Robbie Fowler versus the unhappiness of not being at home with his folks.

Rarely do we see someone's values so exposed like this but it certainly helps us to understand the man better and respect him for being so human as well as such a big star.

Will this be the case for everyone? Not necessarily - relationships with family are very individual and in some cases like Gerrard, at one end of a particularly polarised spectrum. However, we all have values that are our internal drivers, moving us to do things, a bit  like the paddles for a remote-controlled car but better hidden. What gets you up in the morning, that motivates you to do things, controls how and why you act? Knowing what these drivers are that, consciously or otherwise, affect us, we can use them to best advantage.

Just like Gerrard, who recognised his strong family values and can now make allowance for them, so too we can use them to our advantage, once we recognise them.

Go to my article for more discussion of values or download the values pack to help you investigate your own a bit further.