Getting Fanatical About Instilling Our Core Values into Our Culture

Let’s assume there’s a gap between the impact we want to make by living out our core values and the impact that’s actually being made through our team’s actions. Even if that gap is incredibly small, there’s always room for improvement - assuming we’ve done the work to solicit the kind of alliance feedback that doesn’t just tickle our ears… As a leader, a big part of our responsibility is to constantly work to provide our teams with a clear understanding of where we are and where we’re going. With regards to making sure we truly are known for our values in the way we’re striving for, keeping the specific words, the detailed explanations, and the practical example each team member can apply in their own role top-of-mind throughout our organization rests on our shoulders. This requires getting fanatical about instilling our core values into our culture.

Throughout this looks at how core values serve as a foundation for any organization, I’ve frequently referenced what I’ve seen Craig and Kim do since acquiring the first piece of their family business in September 2021. Quite frankly, I’ve mentioned it in just about every lesson or general conversation I’ve had about core values since. In one of those conversations a while back, the owners of another company we work closely with seemed overwhelmed. As we talked, one said that they just weren’t sure they could ever get to a point where they put as much time into sharing their values with their team as Craig and Kim were. Hearing that made me realize that the examples I had been using painted a more impressive picture than I had intended. While the work I had seen Craig and Kim do was indeed uncommon, the results they had achieved through it were because of the intensity in their approach but the consistency in how they kept a detailed understanding of their values in front of their team. I assured the folks I was talking with that they wouldn’t need to increase the time they were investing with their team members, they’d just need to tweak how that time was being used and be intentional about weaving their values into every conversation.

Like I mentioned as we looked at how great programs are built on strong values, specifically with how I replied to the executive who asked if it was possible to talk about his organization’s values too often, there’s no such thing as too much! I recently read Day Trading Attention by Gary Vaynerchuck, focused on building a brand and sales on social media. He mentioned issuing the same challenge to everyone he talked with; whatever frequency they had with their social media posting strategy, they needed to post more. Cindy often has at least five posts scheduled on each of our platforms daily, sometimes even more. If I compare that to a client I worked with several years ago who was adamant that one post a week was more than enough, I’d be proud of myself. That organization appears to still be averaging one post each week on one platform but less than one a month on another, and I hadn’t seen any of them in my feed in months prior to writing this. All said, I’d still bet Gary V would challenge me and Cindy the same way he does everyone else!

When it comes to instilling our core values into every aspect of our culture, it’s not about how eloquent the font is in our handbooks or the beautiful artwork around the values painted on our walls. It won’t even matter if we stomp our feet or pound the podium as we rattle off the words in an annual meeting with our entire company. The consistency we use, both in detailing our core values and in modeling the behaviors necessary to make them part of our routine, will always trump an intense spurt that’s not seen or heard again for months. There truly is no such thing as too much communication around our core values. Even then, though, that communication will need to be genuine; we’ll need to wear those values on our sleeves. So we’ll pick up there next time!