The Core Difference!
Wednesday, March 8, 2017 - Joe Kiedinger
I was invited to meet with Wawa a few weeks ago. For those of you who are not familiar with this brand, Wawa is a chain (over 600 units) of convenience stores that are primarily located along the east coast of the U.S. The company began near Philadelphia where their corporate headquarters still resides.
Every person I happened to encounter was extremely kind and courteous. This picture depicts a few of their core values which are creatively displayed behind the receptionist. Why is it important to have core values and what happens if you don’t?
Core values drive all decisions for every person in an organization. These values don’t distinguish good companies from great. What is the true difference maker are the companies who can communicate and enforce the values all the way to the front line worker.
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Anyone can post values on their wall, but show me the leadership team who can instill and drive them to a point where if you interviewed any full-time employee 80% could recite them and 100% of all managers could give examples of how they live them everyday to guide decisions. That is a core difference maker!
Values drive decision making and steer desired behavior. Once you have identified the behavior you desire, establish your values that represent that behavior. Next, the hard work begins. How will you drive it to your front line workers? Here’s a hint, you will always get what you reward. Think about how you can catch employees living these values and recognize them.
It’s not hard, it just takes patience and systems, but anything worth doing is never easy. Slow and steady wins the race in establishing a world-class culture, the true difference maker!
Joe Kiedinger
ACTION PLAN: Is it time to evaluate what you stand for? Or, perhaps you have some core values that need dusting off. What will your next steps be?
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