Finola Howard 0:03
I'm Finola Howard, intuitive marketer, your host and founder of how great marketing works. I believe that every business has a story to tell, because that's how the market decides whether to buy or not, and your story has to resonate with who you are and with the people you want to serve. And this podcast is about helping you reach the market in a way that feels right to you. So if you're an entrepreneur with a dream you want to make real, then this is the podcast for you, because great marketing is your truth share.
Finola Howard 0:41
And in this episode, I'm taking time to reflect on a recurring theme in many of the your truth shared episodes, and that is all about values. And the reality is that 99% of company, mission, vision and value statements are meaningless. And I wanted to explore that a little with you. I wanted to share with you how you can bring them to life in your business. I hope you enjoy. I wanted to do this episode because I've been reflecting on some of the episodes that we've had over the last just under a year, in fact, and there's a recurring conversation around the importance of values. And in fact, values are a very strong piece of the work that I do with clients, and I often find that it has so many far reaching impacts on a business that it can't be ignored from a marketing perspective, from even the perspective of you unlocking your own voice in the business, of tapping into that uniqueness that is You is often very apparent in your values, but it has so much else that it can offer you and your business to help you create a business that's a success for you. This has been explored in some previous episodes, like, for example, the ones from David Walsh, Brendan O'Hara, Greg and Pavel from predica, they're a great example of Values in Action and embodied in a business. So let's talk about this for a little bit. Okay, what's interesting to me is there's so much talk about values everywhere, and people readily talk about, yes, it's really important that we have really strong values, and it helps us figure out if we want to do business with other people, and it helps us manage our employees and help our employees become really strong part of our organization. But the funny thing about all of this talk is that so many company leaders don't even know what the mission or the values of the company are, and that really kind of surprises me, and yet also doesn't surprise me at all. I'll give you an example. Think about this list of values, which is, communication, respect, integrity excellence. They sound good, don't they? And what's funny about this is they're actually the values of Enron, a company famous for its fraudulent practices. So they sound like yours. Maybe it's time to kind of look at this whole area of values and maybe reinterpret them or bring them to life and into action in your business. One of the problems I see, actually, is that, and it becomes obvious as we discuss it, I suppose, is that the most values are actually copied off someone else. And I'll ask you this question, and I've seen this practice. In fact, I've been part of this practice really, really early on in my career, until I got completely converted to the importance of values. They were a tick box exercise. They were something that you put on the wall. And I think perhaps people didn't understand what they were for, of how you could bring them to life in a business, but if they're copied off of somebody else who is actually going to lift them. And also they're not actually actionable if they're copied off of someone else, and that's a real game changer. If you can't make your values clear and actionable, then how can you measure them? If you can't measure them, how can you imagine what measure where they're absent to so important, they've got to be lived, they've got to be part of how people live every day. Then they'll stick and actually mean something. And if they're lived, and actually if they're tested, that's when you know they're true. I ask you this question, Will you hold that value that you've chosen when your back is to the wall? Think of the worst situation that you could be faced in? Where you're presented with two options, one, I'm gonna live this value, I'm going to stick by my guns, and I'm gonna really live this value, and I'm going to forego that cash or that escape from that difficult situation by saying no, because my value tells me not to do this. Really think about that. Are you willing to live by that value when everything else says? You know, it might be a little easier if you just kind of folded on this. Think about that. Think about how you could test it. So I suppose here's the question, how do you bring them to life? How do you bring values to life? Well, of course, you have to start by choosing them and and remember in this conversation, this is important for you. If you're a solopreneur, if you're on your own, if you have a small team, or if you're part of a key leadership team, okay, so this is not just for large organizations. That is the most important message that I want to share with you, because I do this when I work with really small businesses and large organizations. They are cornerstone. They are cultural cornerstone, and they frame the trajectory of your business. They give it voice, and they frame the trajectory of your business. So it's irrelevant what size you are. Your values matter. Okay, start by understanding this, this great piece in the Harvard Business Review by a guy called Patrick M Lencioni, and it's a great article. And actually, I put it in the show notes for you. And one piece in this article talks about knowing the different types of values, and he says, and I loved it when I read it, because I did a little bit more research to bolster what I wanted to talk to you about today. And he talks about these types of values, core, aspirational, permission to play and accidental. They're probably self evident, but let's talk about them for a second. So core values are those deeply ingrained principles that guide all of the company's behavior. They serve as cultural cornerstones. So they are the solid pieces of your business or your company, okay? They are the backbone, okay? And they are principles aspirational. These are important ones to actually know the difference, because if you include aspirational goals in with your core goals, then everybody smells a rash because they know it's not true. So aspirational are those the company needs to succeed in the future, but currently lacks. They have to be separated from core so that that everybody knows that there's a journey to get to here. Okay? The third one is permission to play, and that's the minimum behavioral and social standards required of an employee, and by an employee, and also possibly by the marketplace. You know, if everyone is fully transparent, or everyone has certain key rules of how they work in business, and this is simply permission to play, permission to show up in the marketplace, it's not a core value. It does not differentiate. You remember, that's the other part of values is they are a way to differentiate who you are. They're a way to show your unique voice in the market. So they're not permission to play. And the last one is accidental. They kind of and as it happens as well with culture, things, things often arise spontaneously. They can be both positive and negative. So we have to understand what's the impact of this accidental value, and if it has a negative impact, you need to address that negative impact. Okay, so the other thing, so it's really important to understand those four things, okay, then the other key thing to understand here is that this is not a democratic process. If it was open to everyone, then perhaps there are voices in the room that shouldn't be there in the first place. This is about creating an environment for success for your business, so you've got to choose them strategically and consciously, and remember, when you put these values into place, some people will fall away in your organization because they don't fit, and it's okay that they don't fit, there will be a place for them to fit elsewhere.
Finola Howard 9:57
It doesn't mean they're a bad person, either. It. Mean different priorities. You have different priorities, and it's better for them to find a place where their values are aligned. Okay, so again, this is not a democratic process. If you leave it open to something that's rolled out by your HR department across your entire organization, it just results in dilution and a plaque that goes on a wall and means nothing. Okay, so you've got to choose your values authentically. If they're not true, everyone will smell it. Your customers will smell it. Your suppliers will, your employees, will your leadership team, will, you will, and that will just undermine your credibility. You can't stand over them. So choose them authentically, like really they've got to be stuff that you truly believe in, and then you've got to take them beyond mere words and make them a behavior that, for me, was the turning point of understanding that they need to be more than words. They need to be behaviors, and you need to kind of give examples of those behaviors and action and understand that that action, or those actions in your organization, when it's it needs to be rewarded when it becomes a behavior, so that there's constant positive reinforcement of when values are brought to life by everyone in the organization, small or large. Here's a great example, and I'll also link to this article as well, which is spark Toro, if you might remember, I recently did released a podcast episode with an interview with Rand Fishkin. And so his this business is relatively new, but a lot was taken from previous a lot was learned in his previous organization, and those learnings were brought and that wisdom was brought to spark Toro itself. And here's one example of one of their short list of values. It's always best if it's a short list and they have a value around boundaries, and they say, we set healthy limits for our team, data and product, by honoring our boundaries, we do our best work. And you know, when I read this and I went, so true. It's so true. When we have boundaries, we create space to do our best work, and we always want to do our best work. I loved that one. It made me read on, and they gave an example of the boundaries and action from different perspectives, but I'm just taking a snapshot, and here's what they've said, and this is about the people in the organization. Tell each other what we can and cannot accomplish in a given time frame. Let each other know when you're not available. Prioritize what you need to stay healthy and happy and be largely independent, needing almost no input from a boss or team member to get your work done. Now, the last one kind of surprised me, because it's really being very clear that employees in sparktoro are independent, and they get to set their own boundaries of what's possible for them, in terms of health, well being, what's possible, what's not possible, but also this really kind of strong piece, which is needing almost no input From a boss or team. It's that whole idea of self reliance on independence. So some values can, you know, really test us, but if they're coupled with values that support us, then all things are possible. So let me share with you our values, and that's my approach, the approach of my team in all our work together, and our approach with clients and participants on programs. I won't break them down, but I will share them with you, just as an example. So the first one is, believe in you. We believe in you, in your passion for what you do and your hard earned wisdom in the space there's no judgment where you are in your business. Entrepreneurship is a journey that goes at a different pace for everyone. Number two, look for the joy. It is the greatest measure of how we know we are doing the right work. It also means we are committed to making the experience a joyful one for everyone we work with. That means there is mutual respect trust and a collaborative space where co creation thrives. Three find the ease. We always look for solutions that create ease and flow. If there is resistance, we lean into it. There's something to be explored here that will move the blocks. We want everything we do to be sustainable, because that builds consistency. We want consistency to build momentum. Four, prepare for growth. Growth happens outside the comfort zone. Make that zone less daunting by preparing ourselves and our clients for the next big leap. This includes, but is not limited, to boundary setting, mapping the journey daily self care and health practices and mindset and a mindful practice. And lastly, focus on the end game. It means we do everything with purpose and act with success in mind for ourselves, for ourselves and our clients, we put the steps in place to make things we want to happen come to pass. So you can ask me if these have been tested, and I can tell you categorically they have. And know this, anytime I didn't follow these values, it actually hurt my business and conversely, every time I live up to them, my business flourishes. I'll leave you with this thought from Rand Fishkin. Organizations that live up to their values can outperform those who don't, not that they always do, but they have that ability, and remember that lack of ethics is not a competitive advantage. And if you'd like to learn more about how to unlock brand values in your organization, unlock values in your organization, click on the show notes and you'll see a link to a free mini course that I've called the brand inside, how to unlock the values driving your business trajectory. And that's all from me for this episode of your truth shared, and I'll see you next week. Let me know what you thought in the show notes. Let me know in the comments. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed that episode. Reach out and let me know how you bring your values to life in your business. And check out the free brand inside mini course. If you want to learn more about choosing them and bringing them to life, there's a link for it in the show notes. And if you'd like to support the show, please leave a five star rating and review on Apple podcast. It truly does help people find this podcast, and we'll be back as usual next week. Until then, take care. You.
