In all the years I worked in behavior-based safety, much of our work was based on the premise that we can’t see someone’s attitude or emotions except through the action they take. That applies equally (if not more) when it comes to valuing others. I can say it over and over again, but there's little...

As we worked through steps for how developing others serves as a path to leadership, I shared how a reluctance to pass along knowledge, often out of a misplaced fear that it could diminish our own value, prevents us from providing a successor (or even a direct report) with all the guidance we possib...

Seeing value in and being available for the people around us is critical; not just in a leadership role, but in every aspect of our lives. But just clearing time on our calendar may not be enough to earn trust and get the most possible value from diverse contributions, especially if we don’t display...

If you’ve been disciplined enough to consistently (and fanatically) follow the simple framework for instilling the core values you’ve defined into your organization’s culture, I have no doubt that your grass is at least starting to be incredibly green - to anyone on either side of the fence. And the...

Let’s consider Gino Wickman’s statement again: “Once they’re defined, you must hire, fire, review, reward, and recognize people based on these core values. This is how to build a thriving culture around them.” If we’re willing to take this to heart and consistently act on everything according to our...

Having detailed why a framework for building the foundation of our organizations around our core values is so important and now having three simple steps in laid out to serve as the framework - consistent communication, keeping our values visible all the time, and intentionally weaving them into eve...

Assuming you’ve taken to heart the idea of consistency trumping intensity and the importance of wearing our values on our sleeves, even if you don’t feel like you quite built either completely into your routine yet, we’re at a great place. Each are critical role pieces in the framework for laying a ...

I remember hearing a story about an old man who’s wife was in tears. He reluctantly asked what was wrong and she replied that he clearly didn’t love her any more because it had been years since he told her so. He scoffed and said, “I told you that I loved you when we got married. I’ll let you know i...

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 f...

Developing clarity around the specific impact we want to have on everyone we’re serving through our core values will require focus. Building strong alliances with trusted sources we can count on to provide us with candid feedback on how we are (or aren’t) living up to those values takes time and inc...

As with so many of companies “that more than 80% published an official set of corporate values on their website” having definitions posts - or even detailing a picture of what we want those values to mean - makes little impact if that’s not what we’re actually known for. Wearing a He-Man costume at ...

Early on in this process as we looked at what happens when foundational values aren’t in place (and a few times since), I referenced an article from MITSloan Management Review called “When It Comes to Culture, Does Your Company Walk the Talk?”, where the authors shared this about how frequently comp...