What began as sixteen individual values was whittled down to nine (seven were synonymous). Then I gave them ten minutes to debate amongst themselves and further shorten the list to a final five: perseverance, awareness, dreaming, people, and authenticity. From here, we unpacked the origin behind the words they chose.
One spoke to perseverance—he had survived childhood cancer, never feeling he was allowed the option of giving up.
One spoke of people—his military training had ingrained in him that he was responsible for the man and woman on the left and the right of him.
And another spoke of dreaming—he had lost his wife at a young age and considered taking his own life, not knowing how to move on, only to eventually feel better through the weight he lost taking long walks and contemplating life. In spite of himself, he began dreaming about what was possible for his life again.
Hearing these sixteen origin stories was enlightening for this group, and the nuggets from their stories were woven together to create the definitions of each value. We didn’t waste time thinking our way into the values, instead they were pulled from the guts of the leadership team.
You too have the obligation to extract your values from the guts of your organization. They set the pace for the company, demonstrate what you stand for through your behavior, and attract stakeholders to your business: clients, employees, vendors, and investors. Once you understand the values that drive your people, only then can you address the purpose question: “What were we built for?”
How do you uncover the core values that can light the path to your purpose? Let’s dig in.
Uncovering Your Company's Core Values
Gather together a team of your most influential team members (those that others naturally follow) and dedicate a day to uncovering your values. In a private setting (ideally offsite and conducive to vulnerable conversation and idea sharing) follow these steps:
Lead by example with vulnerability. This exploration is best served if it is explored from the hearts and guts of your people, not their heads and minds. Spending an hour playing the Vulnerability is Sexy game (which we developed for this purpose), or using another mechanism to get people into heart-centered real-talk is imperative before beginning.
Guided Meditation. I use a short, guided meditation to ground the group:
Writing Exercise. Ask everyone to take three minutes to write down or draw what came to them as you posed that question.
Five Adjectives. Ask them to take one minute to write down the five individual adjectives that best capture what they stand for.
Whittling Down. Give them thirty seconds to select the two words they cannot live without and to eliminate the other three.
Giving Voice. Of the two they have left, tell them they can only speak one aloud. Write those words on a whiteboard or flip chart as they give voice to them. Get every contribution.
Whittling Down. If you have five or less people in the room, you have your words. If you have more, your goal is to whittle the list down to five. Consider the following options:
Write Down What Holds Energy. On the whiteboard, or another page of the flip chart, write down the word you are exploring at the top. As each person who has chosen that word is sharing, pay attention to the words and strings of words they use that strike you and others in the room. If something hits you in the gut, write it down. If you see people nodding their heads or hear them make audible noises, then what was just spoken holds energy. Write it down. This language is the raw material from which you will be constructing the definition of your values.
Synthesize the Nuggets. Once you have been through every word and each person in the room has unpacked the origin story behind their word choice, ideally, you should have five sheets of paper full of language that held the most energy. Now is the time for the writer in the group, whoever that might be, to go away and synthesize the language that has been unearthed to create the definition of each value. Their goal is to stick to the language offered up by the group as closely as possible.
Choose Your Guiding Principles. Of your five values, choose the two that are your guiding pillars.Shift the Question. Once you have unearthed your values and understand the drivers and motivations of your people, it is time to shift the question from What was I built for to What were WE built for?
Example:
Fill Out the Equation. Through the guiding principles of ___ and ___ we use our expertise of _____ and ______ to take customers from (the pain) to (the other side of the pain).
Revise. Now take the raw materials of the equation and finesse your language into a final purpose statement.
Bringing Your Core Values to Life through Company Culture
Consistency is everything. To avoid your values and purpose simply becoming wall garbage, you are going to need a strong plan for follow through. Intention, effort, and investment will be required. Below are some ways you can bring this work to life and infuse it into your culture.
Lead by example. When it comes to your values, if you toss them aside when they are inconvenient to uphold, your people will do the same. Get yourself a coach to hold you accountable to your values, especially when it is most difficult. The investment will pay off in spades as your people see you slow down and make the hard choices required to hold true to your values. Over time you’ll see them follow suit, exponentially creating significant impact.
Celebrate the attempts, not just the successes. Your goal is to create a culture where your people take risks living your values in service of your purpose. If you only celebrate the successes, you actually create fear of trying. Instead, celebrate the attempts, regardless of the outcomes.
Rely on your ambassadors. The people on your team who chose each word are the inherent ambassadors of each value. They know what it is to live the value they chose. Put them in charge of training others in how to live that value. You can also rely on them to highlight who is making attempts at living that value, because they will easily recognize those attempts.
Share the stories. Use multiple mediums to share the stories of people attempting the values and living the purpose. Only by seeing others around them taking risks, will people become comfortable taking those risks themselves.
Turn your values and purpose into art. Your employees all learn in different ways. Artistic representations of your values and purpose and what they mean to people at the company can be emotionally invigorating, memorable, and conversation worthy. When they are particularly impactful, consider infusing them to into your marketing.
Let your purpose and values continue to evolve. Your organizational growth and what you learn from challenges will continue to impact how you are meant to serve the world. And while your purpose might remain relatively unchanged, your articulation of your purpose will likely deepen. Honor that you are a living, breathing organism, especially as your people become more activated. Don't miss out on the additional value being created by assuming you have checked this work off your list and can move on. Living your values and purpose is a lifestyle. Commit and live it and you will reap the rewards.
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