In my two previous articles, I discussed how to create your Vision and Mission Statements which set out the direction and ‘vision’ for the business and then ‘how’ you will go about achieving that ‘vision’. This time, we’ll talk about how to develop your Core Values for your business.
Your Core Values are the behavioural aspects of your business and revolve around people. While each ‘principle’ needs ‘buy in’ from all your team, your Core Values not only require the ‘buy in’ from your team but they will need to exhibit these on a daily basis.
You could start off by discussing what you would like your customers to ‘say’ about your business, what you would like your business to ‘look like’ from a customer’s perspective and how you would like your customers to ‘feel’ about your business. These three aspects of your customers’ view of your business will almost always involve behaviour.
Again, you can use a whiteboard, sticky notes or flipcharts to capture the various behaviours put forward by your team and this is definitely one principle that needs to be developed in partnership with your team.
Be sure to confine the number of Core Values to say 5 or 6 as too many becomes too hard for staff and customers to take onboard.
Look at the different words and see if some mean the same thing which will help to condense the number down and keep it tight. Make sure each of the Core Values can be exhibited when undertaking the Mission Statement and in every daily task for every team member otherwise they will become obsolete and have no meaning.
You will most likely jot down words like professional, integrity, customer-focussed and so on. Check out some of your competitors and see what they say about themselves and their Core Values. You will probably find they all are saying the same things. Try to look for behaviours that are unique to your business that will make you stand out from the rest of the competition but make sure they are repeatable and sincere.
One or two of your Core Values could make the difference to your customers and make your business stand out from the competition and help you gain your ‘following’ as you seek to appeal to your niche in the marketplace.
Your Core Values are also linked to your ‘culture’ in your business and become your ‘moral compass’.
In Stephanie Bown’s book on ‘Purpose, Passion and Performance’, she has a great chapter on the development of your Core Values and how this all fits into the leadership and culture of high performance companies. Well worth the read.
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