Being a great business leader means knowing your values and helping others on your team understand what the company stands for. This can ultimately lead to better decision-making and a stronger business overall.
1. Identify Your Company's Values
To lead with values, you must first understand what your company's values are. As the business owner, it is up to you to establish these values and take your team into account to build a unified vision and work environment. There are numerous values you might consider, but common ones include: honesty, integrity, respect, accountability, hard work, creativity, sustainability, and diversity. Take some time to put your company’s values down on paper.
2. Articulate These Values
Once you have identified the values that you consider important to your company, articulate these to your staff and to your customers. Conduct meetings to discuss company values and what staff are doing to meet them. Include your values in your marketing so that your customers have a sense of what you're all about. If these values are important to them, it will help your brand.
3. Create a Shared Sense of Values
Executive coach Naphtali Hoff suggests creating a sense of shared values within your company and getting your team involved with suggestions and feedback.
"For starters, gather your team together for conversation," he says. "Offer them a values list and see where the discussion goes. Focus on company values as opposed to personal ones. Aim to narrow down the list to a core group that can help direct future decision-making in a manner that is not personal but rather values-driven. Then, send the list around for clarification and confirmation. Once confirmed, publicize the values for all to see. At a future meeting, present scenarios so that everyone can grapple with the situation in the context of the values that they have selected."*
4. Let Company Values Guide Your Decisions
Let the values you've dictated guide you through the decisions you make in your business day- to-day. When faced with a challenge, think about how your values apply and come up with a solution. Encourage your employees to do the same thing. The more everyone companywide applies values to the decisions they make, the more your business will truly operate in a way that reflects them.
5. Acknowledge Others Who Act in Favor of Company Values
When you see employees acting in the interest of company values, let them know that you appreciate them. Consider rewarding them, or at the very least offering them compliments. It might also be worth holding up their action as an example for others within the company to follow or learn from.
6. Respect Your Team's Values
Recognize that team members also have their own individual values. Hopefully, most of these are in line with company values, but that's not always the case. As the leader, it's wise to respect the values of team members even if they differ from yours on a personal level.
"In today’s changing workplace landscape, it’s not uncommon for several generations to be working together," notes former FBI agent LaRae Quy.** "Each has different expectations and perhaps different values as well. To bridge those gaps, let them know you care about their well-being and how they are doing."
Respecting your employees' values can help them find value in their own work, and this is certainly a benefit to the company.
When you identify and articulate your company's values to the entire team while respecting individual values and developing a sense of shared values, you have the opportunity to build your business into a strong, unified force that people are proud to be a part of. A proud team will also work harder to ensure the company's success.
* https://corp.smartbrief.com/original/2022/09/lead-from-values
** https://corp.smartbrief.com/original/2023/02/how-the-right-values-help-increase-your-well-being
