Building a Culture Around Values: A Consistent Example

Think back to what I referenced before about companies having wonderfully crafted mission and vision statements framed majestically in their lobbies for their visiting dignitaries to marvel at. Here’s the AI overview I got from adding “mission, vision, culture, values” in the Google search bar: 

A "mission" defines an organization's core purpose and reason for existence, a "vision" outlines the desired future state of the company, "culture" represents the shared behaviors and beliefs within an organization, and "values" are the guiding principles that shape the company's decision-making and actions, all working together to create a unified identity and direction.

Having recently published Leading With A Clear Purpose, I’m over the moon with that connection between a mission statement and an organization’s core (or even clear) purpose. And who doesn’t appreciate a well defined vision for where their organization is headed? Our culture, though, is most definitely a representation of what’s actually going on day-to-day; the behaviors used by the team as a whole, rather than something referenced on a website or TV ad. But the foundation for all of those things is truly built on the core values we, as leaders, have modeled and explained long enough for each team member to understand exactly how they can apply them in their own role - then do so on a regular basis.

To have a realistic shot for our mission or vision to ever ring true outwardly, or for the internal culture of our team to be the driving force behind that mission and vision, detailing and exemplifying our core values is a must. We’ll definitely need to keep it simple for any hope of being applied, but it’s nothing short of imperative that the example we provide is one of the most consistent things in our team members’ lives! We will indeed be responsible for talking about our organization’s core values every chance we get, and that will be a decent start. 

If you have kids, or you’ve ever been around a kid at any point in your life, you know they pay far more attention to what we do than what we say. Not sure, let a swear word slip in front of them, then tell them not to repeat it… Do they follow your instructions or do they follow your example? In studying human behavior for more than two decades, whether tied to workplace safety or how we communicate with one another, I’ve come to terms with the fact that age has little to do with the behaviors we choose. As much as I’d love to suggest that maturity plays a key role, I think about all the times I’ve heard John Maxwell say that “Maturity comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.” 

The biggest driver behind how we choose our behaviors, which form our habits as we repeat them over time, is the consequence we anticipate achieving (or receiving) from that behavior. We’ll dig into how we can effectively manage those consequences from a leadership perspective soon. For now, let’s stick with something we have far more direct control over that plays a close second when working to guide behavior throughout our teams (or even with our kids); the consistent example they see from us. As important as it is for us to provide a simple explanation of how our values can be applied in each role, it won’t be enough for our team members to see us model them occasionally. They need to be about to count on us for that example every single time they look in our direction - so we’ll pick up there next time.