Core Values

In a previous post some months ago I wrote about the importance of personal values. Values can help guide some of the tough decisions you need to make. Think of them as guiding principles for the person you want to be.

Values in a company are the same. They help guide a company toward a better version of itself. The big difference is company values are for a group of individuals. Which, makes them even more important. Values are a foundation for direction and growth.

How do you bring people together around a common cause? How do you guide their tough decisions, making sure to keep them aligned? A company's purpose and values make sure everyone is on the same ship, aligned to a destination.

Over my career, I’ve worked for companies that didn’t believe in values. I’ve worked for companies that put values all over the walls but didn’t bother living them. I am pretty sure you can run a successful business without core values. As there are many successful companies with airy fairy values no one believes in.

The process of creating company values is as varied as the individual values themselves.

The Off-Site All-Inclusive Values Creation

You’ll read many blogs and books about the importance of creating your values as an entire team. “You need to get buy-in from the whole company if you want your values to be worthwhile.” So, the CEO or founders will plan a 3-day offsite at some beach resort for the entire company. They’ll bring in guest speakers and fancy coaches. They will plan a whole bunch of lame team-building activities that everyone dreads. 

Effort vs reward in this scenario is not there for me. In fact, I’d argue that the success of an offsite like this has little to no bearing on the creation of great values. 

Let’s Hire a Big, Expensive Agency

Some startups may be well into their journey when they realise they need values. Or, they need to review their existing values. With growth often comes a disconnect between internal departments. Or, many of the leaders don’t seem to be on the same page anymore. So… “Let’s get our values sorted!” will be the suggestion.

They'll hire an agency. Now the exercise of creating values becomes a full rebrand. All of a sudden "the company’s voice and messaging needs an update. And, while we’re at it why not fix the logo and colour schemes?" 

I’ve been here. And what was the outcome you ask? Well, we weren't $250k better off. And, we didn’t even use a single thing we’d spent 6-months designing with the agency. Effort AND cost vs reward again, not there for me.

There are hundreds of ways you can go about building your company's core values. My suggestion would be to simplify the process. It’s not something you can do overnight. But, if you’re intentional with the culture and direction you want for your company you’ll get them done right.

Reasons For Values

Before anything else, values come first. Without clear, shared values, we wander independently and contradict one another. Everything’s more challenging when we all believe different things about what’s important to the company.

What do Values Look Like?

This is a tough one. Values can be anything from a single word to a paragraph. Sometimes they’re quotes (which I do love) and sometimes they’re phrases. The only structure I am averse to is single-word values. You know these too well I am sure.

IntegrityCompassionTrustLoyaltyVomit in my mouth

These are too fluffy. Level one thinking. I am not inspired. Words can be interpreted in many ways and mean something different to each person. For Wirely’s core values we came up with a short, memorable phrase and then I’ve backed those up with a story. This helps give clarity and doesn't leave room for interpretation.

How Did We Do It?

Over many years, many startups, many mentors and many more shitty leaders. I’ve been collecting values. Most of them were values that resonated with me. I’ve thought about what would inspire but also guide a team during both good and hard times. I started with about 15. I was critical about what each would mean to individuals in our company. Then, I narrowed them down to 7/8. 

I then brought in the founder of Wirely and another member of the leadership team. We looked at some values they’d created before but hadn’t been “using”. Together we narrowed our core values down to 5.

The number of values you use is not important. Focus on quality. There is no right or wrong, do what feels right. A lot of value creation and implementation is about feeling.

And there you have it. A few years of collecting ideas and thoughts then, a full day with a few business leaders and we had our Values 1.0. I’d like to highlight the “1.0” part because I am almost positive that as we grow and evolve so too will some of our values.

Wirely’s Values 1.0

I wanted to try to make sure there was at least one value for each part of our business. Our customers, our team and the work we do.

Make our customers love us moreThis value is self-explanatory. I am a massive believer in a consistent experience for customers. In everything we do as a company, we need to be asking if the action we’re taking will make our customers love us more.

Open books, open doorsWe want to promote an open culture. Clear, open and respectful communication is important for any company to thrive.

Go ahead, act like an ownerI’ll admit this one comes from a mentor I’ve worked with. People often talk about autonomy in startups. We encourage our teams to make decisions as if they were the owner. Take the bull by the horns and get shit done. Owners also take responsibility and accountability for their actions.

It doesn’t have to be crazyInspired by Jason Fried and his book of a similar title. Tech startups are chaotic. They move at incredible speeds. It can often feel like every day is like walking along the edge of a cliff face. Like every decision is life-threatening. It doesn’t have to be this way. Our teams don’t have to work 18-hour days and 7 days a week. It’s important we take a breath and calmly move forward. Sometimes you have to go slow to go fast.

Keep it simple“What would this look like if it were simple?” Tim FerrissOne of my all-time favourite quotes. Every business on the planet often finds ways to overcomplicate the simplest things. For some reason humans love complexity. You’ll be surprised how simplifying ideas will speed up decision-making. And, will also improve the outcomes.

I don’t think our way was the right or best way. I am sure you could poke holes in the process and values we created. But, I didn’t take 6 months and I didn’t spend stupid money. It was the right way for us, at this moment.

You may think that values are fluff. And, they don’t add value or drive outcomes. Maybe they don’t. But, maybe they are the glue that brings your people together on the same ship. If you ask me, that’s the most important part. Your business can’t be successful if your teams are all sailing in different directions. 

Good luck. Slide into my DMs if you want to ask questions or brainstorm ideas.

Peace, love and muscles.

JarrenThe Beginner CEO

Podcast I loved this week

Focus Toolkit - The Huberman LabYes, I am a massive fan of Dr. Huberman and therefore binging on his podcasts lately. Every one of us could learn how to optimise focus. This is a really informative pod, give it a listen.

Book I just finished

Dune - Frank HerbertI can’t always be deep into learning and business books. I often alternate and read for a bit of escape. I’ve always loved fantasy novels but haven’t read an epic one like this in years. Dune is a big commitment but I couldn’t put it down!