Discovering Core Values

Leadership Workshop (2 of 12) – Align the Core Values

Leading at Light Speed is an excellent leadership book by Eric Douglas showing you step-by-step how to implement 10 Quantum Leaps that build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization.

Chapter One of Leading at Light Speed is all about discovering core values.

How can you figure out the core values of your company? What steps should you take? What is the starting point of this? Exploring questions such as “What would someone who was acting in the best interest of this organization do to ensure its success?” is at the heart of developing core values. This is the essence of John Rawls’ “neutral man” standard, which he articulated in his groundbreaking book A Theory of Justice. It is important that core values are considered in a balanced manner. To make it easier, I’ve discovered there are a minimum of seven core values that companies need to explore.

Viability.
Associate Success.
Conscientious Honesty.
Reliability.
Product Satisfaction.
Safety.
Environmental Policy.

Why these seven? Customer satisfaction and reliability are obvious, since they cut to the heart of attracting and retaining customers, regardless of your product or service. Ethics and integrity are absolutely necessary. By not behaving in an ethical manner, organization run a huge risk, because of the transparency revolution. Attracting and maintaining expert staff is fundamental. Engaging them enables an organization to perform at consistent high levels. The inevitable financial and work flow costs associated with competent employee non-retention are one of the most important considerations when building an organizational culture of excellence. Maintaining safety is stressed by many companies in order to ensure success. And environmental protection is now seen by many companies to be a core value, both because it’s the right thing to do, and because ignoring one’s impacts on the environment can lead to customer backlash and financial ruin. and the final element is financial sustainability.. No enterprise can sustain itself without financial resources.

To sum up, the success of virtually every type of organization must be built on these essential ideas and purposes. By examining each one, all options are analyzed completely.. this is just the starting point, however. You must develop the details surrounding each core value, including the behaviors (what I refer to as the “we statements”) that support each core value. Core values must be quantified in order to be measured accurately.

Take this free work survey to discover how well your company measures up to the 10 Quantum Leaps.