Laying a Foundation on Values: Simple Practices

We started this look at how values serve as the foundation for every organization and how things can go wrong when that foundation isn’t in place. From there, we worked through the importance of clearly defining our organizational values, and how doing so can truly rally our team members, earn buy-in from our clients and immediate community, and build the reputation we’re known for even more widely. Now it’s time to get to work! Let’s start laying a foundation for the organizations we lead that’s based on our core values.

I’ve recently seen some images on social media of existing and proposed skyscrapers, with the tallest currently being over 2,700’ in Dubai and one a full 500’ taller set for a 2028 completion in Saudi Arabia. Over the years, I’ve heard folks comment on how much goes into creating a foundation that can support (and sustain) a structure of that magnitude. In many cases, laying these foundations can take up to a year. According to the website for Sameer Building Construction, the foundation for the Twin Towers of Malaysia is around 400’ deep, supporting the nearly 1,500’ tall structure. The work involved, and the necessary overall depth, depends on the soil conditions and the type of materials used. Excavation for these foundations takes a tremendous amount of time. And even after the digging and all the work to prepare for pouring the foundation, the concrete curing process (especially when it’s that much involved) is extremely slow. According to Study.com, the concrete poured in the 1930’s for the Hoover Dam is still curing today…

Now, imagine you’re an investor backing a project like this. A year after the ceremonial ground-breaking, you still don’t see anything resembling a structure above the privacy fence surrounding the construction area. I can’t speak for you, but I know the limited patience I have would be worn thin if I didn’t have a complete understanding of the process and project timeline. As amazingly beautiful as a building of that magnitude can be, the far less attractive part that is the foundation will ultimately determine whether it stands the test of time.

While most of us will never be intricately involved in building a skyscraper, I’d bet we’ve all had at least some visibility of building a modest home. The scale is significantly smaller, but the process isn’t wildly different; the foundation still supports the end product. Our core personal and organizational values fill that same role as we lead our teams. Like the foundation for a skyscraper or a home, much of the work we do to ensure our values are indeed serving as the foundation for our organization will go unnoticed early on - and sustaining that with limited results (or no visible results at all) can be difficult.

Although I’ve never been involved in a construction project the size of the skyscrapers I’ve referenced here, my first hands-on experience in the complete building process of a home was more than thirty years ago and that taught me some valuable lessons about the importance of a foundation so we’ll pick up there next time.