Ahh Core Values, the wonderful term used in those fancy offices and welcome packages. Wtf does it really mean and why is it so important though?
Before we dive in, let’s be real…
If your business’ core values are anything along the lines of trustworthiness, quality, integrity, teamwork – we’re calling BS. Let’s be honest, that’s the minimum standard for being a decent human being and business. That is not your core values. Core values should define the character of your business. They should be the standard that you hold yourself (and all staff) to every single day.
If it can be found on some cheesy inspirational poster with a cat or an eagle, burn it now.
Your core values should be authentic but not complicated! You should be able to easily remember them (do as we say not as we do hey Elle* ), not wishy washy and they should make it easier to make decisions and stick to them! For example; our core values are No Bullshit, You Do You and We’ve Got Your Back. Recently we were putting together a proposal for a project we are super excited for. We realised because we were so keen to do this project we were walking on eggshells with the potential client. It took a strong cup of tea and some real talk between the 2 of us to make us stop and go, we are not sticking to our core values. We went back to the proposal and reworked it, and were both soooo much happier with the work and the result!
So if you’re in the middle of a meeting and one of your core values is something along the lines of “be straight up” and you’re watering stuff down as if it’s dying of thirst, you need to revisit those core values and remind yourself what your business stands for.
Think about how you act? What makes you different? Also, don’t go overboard, stick to around 3. It’ll be easier to remember!
If you really want to get into it, Brene Brown and Patrick Lencioni have some great stuff on Core Values. Check out pretty much anything Brene Brown has written or The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni.
