Creating a Legacy Through Values

Once we’ve laid a foundation around the simple practices involved with modeling our core company values and we’ve provided our teams with a consistent example of what each value living out each value looks like in practice, we should be well on our way to building the culture we’re after within our organization. But creating a legacy that leaves a positive impression with anyone who ever hears about us - reputation we’re known for far and wide, and long after we’re gone - will require everyone on our teams to exemplify those values. To do this, we’ll absolutely have to establish clear expectations that can be sustained long term; this is how we can work toward our own version of Truett Cathy’s “My pleasure!”

As I emphasized the importance of identifying the ways we can build our values into our daily routines, with our leadership roles first then into the daily tasks our team members are responsible for, I suggested that we work to keep this as simple as possible and tie any systems we create back to how we’re wired individually - our own behavioral style. Just to make sure it sinks in, I’ll stress this again: flashy ideas and fancy new approaches may draw attention initially but simplicity drives results. We’re unlikely to recognize lasting value from something we can’t stick with!

To build our business on a foundation of values that truly has a lasting impact on the people we’re called to serve, sustainable expectations are a must. While this certainly isn’t complicated, we’ll need to be incredibly intentional in how we go about it. As with modeling our core values through our own behavior, we’ll set the standard for how every leader on our team defines what’s expected and maintains accountability. If we can’t sustain this, is it reasonable to think anyone on our team will?

With that in mind, let’s take a detailed look at how we can establish high but sustainable expectations, communicate them clearly, and develop the kind of team accountability that everyone strives to live up to - rather than an atmosphere of threat-based compliance. In explaining “The Cost of Confusion” (chapter eight in What’s KILLING Your Profitability?) I shared how I’ve frequently seen supervisors and management shy away from setting high expectations for their teams out of fear that this could push people away. The best leaders I’ve ever had the chance to be around not only set high expectations, they held their teams accountable to the behaviors required for achieving those expectations. While complainers and mediocre performers were quick to distance themselves from this, it attracted some of the best team members in their organizations. And it all started with those leaders being crystal-clear about what was expected every single day so we’ll start working through that next time.