Compounding Success Around Core Values
In The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell explains The Law of the Mirror by simply saying “We attract who we are, not who we want.” I had never seen a more obvious example than the organization I referenced earlier; initially as I became familiar with the company and even more so as the succession process unfolded. Prior to the changes, the team consisted of the most talented group I had ever seen in one place, and that was even more impressive given the area they were in and the total headcount. Like the fellow calling the shots, each of them were extremely detailed-oriented and relatively reserved in their approach. But as he handed off more and more control to his successor, who cared far less about the details involved and was much more deliberate in his approach, the team that took shape around him soon shared those attributes. Had the new look of the team maintained the values the organization’s foundation was built on, sustainable growth wouldn’t have been an issue; that simply wasn’t the case.
While even the most tenured, skilled, and loyal team members will eventually move on when the core values displayed by those in leadership roles no longer match their own, a company with leaders who vehemently protect the culture they’ve built as well as the values its built on will not only be one where the best team members stay indefinitely, it will (at least eventually) attract a constant flow of great people who want to join the team. Don’t misunderstand me here, this will never just happen and it will not be easy to achieve, but replacing top talent without a foundation built around your core values is far more difficult.
At this point in my career, I’ve had the privilege of seeing leaders build amazing teams around their closely held core values in large companies and small, in the workplace and in volunteer organizations, across every sector of society. The type of work, the level of compensation, and even the pedigree of the individual leading the team have had far less to do with earning commitment from the people involved than how those leaders modeled their core values. To drive this point home, I’ll detail some of the best examples I’ve had direct experience with. In each case, these leaders could have made an occasional compromise to increase the overall capacity of their team and snag more profitability in the moment. But by having the discipline to stand by what they’ve valued more, I’ve watched each of their organizations steadily grow with some of the best people in their respective industries.
Real Life Examples of Building Around Core Values
While under what was likely the most intense pressure I had ever experienced to fill open positions, I remember a conversation with one of the managers I was supporting where he told me that he needed seven people with a very specific skill set by the following week. It just so happened that I had all the applications for that position in my hand as we spoke. I explained that of the five we had, two were more suited for a restraining order than a job offer, one had no relevant experience, and the remaining two were probably worth interviewing. I went on to hand him the applications and told him to let me know which seven (of those five) he had the most interest in adding to his team. He replied by saying, “Just do the best you can” and walked away.
Regardless of industry, current economic climate, or pressing business demands, I’ve rarely seen a time where any organization has too many talented team members living out their core values. What I have seen far too often has been a compromise on upholding those values, even if ever-so-slightly, resulting in a questionable hiring decision negatively impacting the culture of the organization. However, I’ve had the privilege of seeing the inverse as well. Over the last decade or so, I’ve worked with several leaders who were absolutely adamant about only adding team members who matched their core company values rather than filling a spot on their roster with whoever had the basic skills for the open position. I won’t pretend it was ever easy for them. In fact, it was harder in the moment nearly every time. But if you remember what I learned from Terry about choosing the harder right over the easier wrong, you can guess where I’m going with this…
Several years ago, I had a scheduled lunch meeting with a friend just after he was supposed to have selected a candidate for a key role on his team. He had accepted a promotion from Deputy Chief to Chief in a fairly large city’s Fire Department and he was working to backfill the position he had been in. He and his team had interviewed several candidates with all the necessary skills to excel in the role, but none could explain why they were interested in joining this specific team; none were a direct match on what that team valued most. Since my friend had been juggling the duties of both roles for several months, it would have been so much easier at the time to select the best of that batch and move on. They did not. He and his team opted to post the position again rather than settle. That decision yielded a great person for the role, one who truly modeled the organization’s core values immediately and has ever since.
Another example is a close friend who acquired his company in 2016. I helped with the majority of staffing for his company from late 2017 until early 2022. Through that time, he always had positions to fill; a few due to normal turnover but most because they were consistently earning new opportunities. I can point to dozens of conversations during that time where he was satisfied the candidate could do the work but not sure the candidate would be a match for the values he was building the company around. As I write this, that organization has experienced 5X growth since he took over and is currently on pace to double year over year.
Two other examples are businesses that offer very specific services in their respective markets. The leaders of each maintain incredibly high expectations of their team members, and they base those expectations around the core values they detail routinely. While in very different industries, both companies have earned outstanding reputations with the clients they serve as well as throughout the communities they operate in. If you’re ever close to their areas and have a need for what either business offers, I’m confident you’d get a referral to both from nearly anyone you ask - and that all stems from how those teams live out their core values.
Since I’ve referenced so many examples from the businesses Craig and Kim operate already, I’ll skip them here. But I could go on and on about the growth I’ve seen their team experience and how their core values have been the foundation for it all. The last example I’ll share is of a friend in a leadership role in law enforcement. He took a new position in early 2022. Like many organizations where a new leader takes over, his saw nearly thirty percent turnover in just the first few months. That said, turnover ain’t always bad. The ones who chose to leave so quickly were quite accustomed to doing the bare minimum and my friend’s expectation for exemplifying the department’s core values and providing a premium level of service to their community wasn’t something they were willing to live up to. Since then, he’s developed a reputation with the citizens, business owners, and elected officials in his area like I’ve never seen.
Each of these leaders have been instrumental in how their organizations have built strong reputations in their respective areas and industries. Interestingly enough, more than half of them are also experiencing something few organizations ever do; they have a waiting list of folks who want to join their teams. And the ones that don’t (yet) are moving in that direction rapidly. None of this happens without a solid foundation built on core values. With that in mind, let’s look at why this happens before digging into exactly how we can do it with the teams we lead.
A Values-Based Culture Attracts Great People
In The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, John Maxwell emphasizes that “growth compounds and accelerates IF we remain intentional about it.” Compounding interest, in growth or in our finances, can work for or against it. If you’re not completely certain this is true, have your banker run some numbers showing what happens to high credit card balance when just making the minimum payment compared to how a retirement plan can grow over time with that same amount added there each month instead.
The same holds true with how our organizational culture is built around a core set of values, whether those values are the ones we have listed in our handbooks and painted our walls or a wildly different set of values we display for our teams that are contrary to what’s in print. While the folks running one company didn’t set out to openly violate the core values it had been built on, gradual moves away from those values had a compounding impact that resulted in costly turnover. Each organization I detailed where the leaders stood strong by what they valued most, even when a compromise here or there would have made life a lot easier for them in the moment, also saw a compounding impact. Like compounding interest, the direction depends on our actions.
In both What’s KILLING Your Profitability? and Leading With A Clear Purpose, I gave examples detailing how top tier people in any industry do not jump ship just because things get difficult. If anything, challenges bring out the best in them and our team as a whole - as long as expectations are high, everyone is held to the same level of accountability, and we uphold our clearly stated core values at all cost. Failing to do these things may not immediately result in everyone leaving at once, but you can bet the team members who strive for excellence won’t be around long. There’s a chance that an organization without a foundation built on strong core values can attract a rock star occasionally; even a broken clock is right twice a day. (You won’t get that reference if you’ve only ever used digital clocks…) The good news is that not only will consistently working to solidify our foundation around core values bring out the best in the amazing team members we have, it will - sooner or later - yield a culture that even great people outside our organization hear about and WANT to be a part of. The best people I’ve ever been around have had one thing in common: they want to be part of a winning team. In fact, I’ve met very few who don’t. Before mapping out a simple yet specific framework for building your foundation around a clear set of core values, we’ll look at what we absolutely must do as leaders to ensure that compounding effect is working for us rather than against us.