Refining Your Core Values
tips for a top down, bottom up process
Whenever I’m working, I like to avoid starting from a blank piece of paper. In almost all cases, there’s something we can build from, and that instantly makes the conversation more productive because it’s real.
The same is true about your core values. Often, a consultant-magician is brought in to mystically poof some up. They’re always well worded and end up dying on a breakroom wall.
This isn’t to say engaging an outside perspective isn’t valuable—in fact, it’s critical—but this method overlooks the reality that you already have values, whether you intentionally set them or not.
Your values are either set implicitly by the behaviors of your original team members or explicitly by stating values and holding each other accountable to living them.
In either case, you all have to live by them, which means setting them should be a top-down, bottom-up process that you conduct deliberately.
Your leadership can and should think about the company they’re working to build, as well as the values that the community you serve holds (talking to them is the best way to find that out). This step helps to outline the scope.
Then, you need to involve your team. Start by asking them:
What is the company actually like? What words would they use to describe it, how individuals behave, and what’s important?
What do they want it to be like?
You’re then looking for the qualities that come up most often, and you can compare those to the things your community values. Where you get the most convergence, sharpen your focus. Keep in mind that 3 or 4 values are sufficient. Values act as a filter for your behavior, and there are only so many things we can keep top of mind at once.
But core values don’t stop there—you still have to hold yourself accountable. Here are three suggestions:
Ensure everyone understands and can articulate your values as they apply to their role
Review your values annually
Rate your actions according to your values
They are a starting point. You need to do things that work well for your company.
As far as when to start, perhaps you’re already working on shifts dealing with remote work and can use the opportunity to make your values stronger at the same time. Or maybe you went through a merger and can make your values a top-line item in the transition as both a way to get to know everyone and an opportunity to realign so you move forward together.
Whatever your specific circumstances, the goal is to make sure your team is a part of the process, and you build on the values you already have.
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