I am one of Seth Godin’s gazillion closest friends, religiously reading his daily blog. One of his recent posts, titled, “Kneejerks” resonated with me.
In his typical brief yet impactful style, Seth talks about how we earn the respect of our employees when we call out someone in our tribes who is not exhibiting our culture. Real change happens when our team believes that we as leaders care about our interactions and character more than scoring points.
One of the concepts that we teach in the Entrepreneurial Operating System ™ (EOS) is that healthy leadership teams and healthy companies are open and honest. Being open and honest eliminates organizational politics and helps teams work for the greater good of the organization, which is paramount.
The Role of Core Values
When you begin the process of identifying your organization’s Core Values, you’ll start by identifying the characteristics and traits that define your company’s culture. You may include attributes such as compassion, accountability, enthusiasm, is committed, or understands the value of reputation..
Once you and your leadership team narrow the list down to between three and seven values, you’ll communicate your Core Values to your employees, and adopt them as the foundation of your business’s culture.
Being open and honest about your Core Values takes the guesswork out of your expectations. You’ve communicated, you’ve educated and you are setting an example of your business’s Core Values in every business decision you make.
When you hire, fire, review, recognize and reward your employees based on your Core Values, you ensure you have the right people in your organization and there is nowhere to hide. It is then with great love and respect that you can call someone out for not exhibiting your Core Values.
Open and honest are important to any relationship, whether business or personal. When you use them to create and communicate your Core Values, you are presenting a set of expectations that your employees live by. If they understand your Core Values but don’t truly believe in them – and are not exhibiting them in the things they say and do – then they are not a fit for your organization.
Do you need help establishing your Core Values? If so, we can help.
About EOS
EOS is a holistic management system with simple tools that help you do three things we call vision, traction, healthy. Vision from the standpoint of first getting your leaders 100% on the same page with where your organization is going. Traction from the standpoint of helping your leaders to become more disciplined and accountable, executing really well to achieve every part of your vision. Healthy meaning helping your leaders to become a healthy, functional, cohesive leadership team.
