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App StoreGoogle PlayUnderstanding your Core Values is a fundamental necessity to success in business ownership. But when I initially broach the subject with a business owner, I invariably get one of these two reactions:
To be a great leader, a business owner must be a great parent for their organization. Dr. Thomas Gordon, in his book “Parent Effectiveness Training”, laid out the three things that great parents do that average/below average parents don't do particularly well.
You must be very deliberate and careful in establishing your Core Values, your “handful of rules”, and make certain that these not just aspirational things that you think your customer wants to hear. Aspirational statements will almost certainly condemn your leadership team and employees to a disconnect between stated core values and true, day-to-day experiences. In this environment, your staff cannot "walk the talk" and Core Values become meaningless. If the leadership of the company does not show the behavior of their published Core Values, there is no way those behaviors will ever grow into a Company Culture.
As the leader, your Core Values must be comprised of what is at your core; what you live and breathe every day as your values. You don't make these up – you discover them as they exist within you.
When you know your real, personal Core Values, and you run your company with these as your "handful of rules," you will get the magic of consistent behavior and develop a Company Culture that will drive performance stronger than any strategy you can ever develop. As Peter Drucker tells us, "Culture eats Strategy for breakfast."