How to Keep Your Core Values Alive and Kickin’
Wednesday, February 15, 2023 - Joe Kiedinger
In my last WOW, I defined “core values” and how to develop your own. If you missed that blog post, you can read it here: Need Direction? How Core Values Can Be Your Guidepost
I hear it all the time. “Our company has established core values, so why won’t anyone follow them?” and “I’m so busy keeping up with the day-to-day, I don’t have time to focus on our company core values!”
I get it. You are busy. But if you’re a leader, you can’t afford to not actively support your company’s core values.
Company culture will set off on its own trajectory if you don’t direct its flow. And organizations that have a dedicated focus on core values just win. You know why? When a group joins together to focus on one common goal, they achieve it. They become a cohesive, successful, winning team.
Practical Ways to Keep Your Values Alive
Morning Huddle
So, how can you work your core values into your everyday work life? At Prophit Co. it starts with our Morning Huddle. Each Prophiteer is assigned a day to present the core value. They look through our list of five values and share anything they’d like to express the importance of one value. It could be a motivational video about courageousness, a scholarly article about efficiency or a personal story about dignity. This is a great way to get your team actively involved with your core values and build a sense of community.
Theme
At the end of each Morning Huddle, we put our hands together and cheer out an annual theme. Choose something central to your core values that can help keep them front of mind. It’s a quick way to align your team around a common goal.
LOV (Living Our Values) Events
We aim to host a few LOV events for our team each year. The premise behind these events is to get out of the office to develop teamwork, strengthen culture and provide a living, breathing example of our values at work. We’ve had our team build bikes and donate them to a charitable cause, gone on a scavenger hunt for supplies and donated them to the Humane Society and more. Carve out a few hours to host a similar event for your team!
Performance Reviews
Because core values are so central to each business, apply them to your review process. Our team knows that each year when they sit down with their leader for their review, they will be held accountable to actively following each value. They will rate themselves; their leader will provide a rating and then they discuss. No matter our role, we’re all responsible to support our company’s values.
So now, the big question is, where will you start?
JOE KIEDINGER
ACTION PLAN: Let us throw a LOV Event for your team! Leadership Adventures is the perfect vehicle to get your associates on the same bus and moving in the right direction.