What Are Your Core Values?

By Bruce Van Horn  

 

“It is more important to know who you are than where you are going, for where you are going will change as the world around you changes.” - James C. Collins

If you have not yet read Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by James C. Collins, you need to stop what you are doing right now, order it, block off next weekend, and read it from cover to cover!

In this timeless business book, Collins, demonstrates how great companies became great because their leaders were more concerned with the "Why" than they were the "How" or the "What." The founders of great companies often decided what their core values, the non-negotiables, would be even before they decided what products or services to create.

You see, truly great companies are, at their core, a reflection of the truly great men and women who lead them. 

Share this: Truly great companies understand the difference between what should never change and what should be open for change, between what is genuinely sacred and what is not.” Collins explores this concept in great detail with real examples from real companies, but that is not my concern here.

I'm not concerned with your company right now—I’m concerned with you. I'm not here to ask about your corporate core values, I am asking about your personal core values. You see, truly great companies are, at their core, a reflection of the truly great men and women who lead them. 

So I would like to rewrite Mr. Collins' phrase to read: “Truly great leaders understand the difference between what should never change and what is open for change...” What are your core values? What are your non-negotiables? 

I had lunch a few weeks ago with the owner of small but rapidly growing company. He contacted me, based on a referral, to talk about Executive/Life coaching. As we talked, he said a single sentence which made it clear to me that I was not the right person to coach him, or rather, he was not the right client for me. In describing his desire for success, he said “I'll do whatever it takes; everything is for sale!” The sad thing is, he really meant it. He was also shocked when I said I would not work with him because our values were not in alignment.

If your desire for success is so strong you are willing to do whatever it takes, then you will be willing to go in any direction to get it. If your desire for money is so strong you can say “everything is for sale,” then you will quickly run out of anything of value to offer. You may achieve some level of success for a time, but there is a strong likelihood your pursuit of the next great thing will lead you right off a cliff! “If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.” A cliché, I know, but it is true!

I am not going to tell you what your personal core values should be, but I am saying you need to have them and you need to stand firmly enough for them that everyone around you knows what they are. 

Share this: Your life will be more fulfilling when you surround yourself with people who hold similar values. Your leadership teams will work with more unity if comprised of people of similar values. Collins teaches that you cannot train people to adopt your values—you need to hire people who already hold your values. The problem is you cannot hire people with your values if you do not know what your values are!

Take some time to really think this through. What are your core values? Write them down. Ask your closest friends and colleagues what they think your core values are, to see if they agree with you. Examine your life, words, and actions. Are you living, speaking, acting and leading in alignment with your values?

Where you go and what you do may need to change with time and circumstance, but who you are, at the core, should never be open for negotiation!

Why leaders should care about their company culture

LISA KIMMEL

But how do you create a workplace culture that makes employees feel valued and part of something bigger? By making culture a priority.

Culture is often overlooked as a business driver because it’s an asset without a dollar value. But those who neglect it do so at their peril. When I became general manager at Edelman five years ago, I made culture a priority. We changed how we worked together. That attention to culture has yielded measurable financial results: improving our retention rates, attracting the smartest talent¸ and helping to triple our revenue.

The model we used can be replicated. It’s based on four Cs:

1. Core values: Successful organizations have identified their core values, and those values provide the guideposts for how employees are expected to behave and do business.

For Edelman, a core value is entrepreneurialism. We encourage people to take risks. Whatever your core values, employees need to be aware of them and, more importantly, see them reinforced daily.

2. Co-create: Ask your employees – not just leadership – what kind of culture they want to be a part of. You’ll be amazed at the ideas that flood your inbox when you bring them into the process. At Edelman, we set our annual employee engagement priorities only after seeking employee input through a series of brainstorm sessions.

3. Communicate: Regular communication – not just top-down, but bottom-up and peer-to-peer – within your company is essential to building the right culture. A key element to this is a commitment to transparency with your employees, which builds their trust.

At Edelman, we hold quarterly lunches for peers across our practice groups to ask employees for feedback on how we’re doing, and where we need to improve. That information is then shared back with the leadership team, and where it makes sense, we will adopt or incorporate their feedback into our initiatives.

4. Celebrate: Look for opportunities, both big and small, to let your employees know their work is recognized and valued by leadership. In our client-driven business, people often have to sacrifice their weekends or cancel dinner plans at the last minute. We take the time to celebrate their successes, whether it is a new client win, a remarkable campaign, or something exceptional a team member did to support his or her colleagues.

Each of the four Cs demands authenticity. This isn’t something you can fake, cover off with an e-mail or a staff meeting. It takes a long-term commitment to be different. Make sure anyone who walks through the door knows what your values are and that they are prepared to live them. Relentlessly seek input from your employees to refine the vision and bring it to life.

Your employees, of course, are your most valuable resource, at least when you are in the consulting business. The trick is to make them feel that way.

Lisa Kimmel (@lisakimmel) is general manager of Edelman Toronto (@EdelmanTO). Edelman (@EdelmanPR) is the world’s largest public relations firm. Lisa has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network.