In this thought-provoking article, Anthony Tormey, CEO of the Leader Development Institute (LDi), critiques the common pitfalls of generic organizational core values. He offers practical advice on how to create values that genuinely reflect your organization's vision and mission, helping leaders inspire their teams and foster meaningful change.
At LDi, we work diligently with our clients to create meaningful values or enhance their existing ones, fostering a culture that drives sustainable success. Unfortunately, many organizations have core values that suck. It's astonishing how often government, corporate, and not-for-profit organizations present values that resemble a basic checklist: Teamwork, Loyalty, Respect, Integrity. Really? These are your core values? Is your workplace filled with backstabbers, bullies, and thieves? Do you need to assure your customers of these values, or remind your employees to uphold them? While Teamwork, Loyalty, Respect, and Integrity are undoubtedly important, shouldn't these be the baseline expectations for anyone walking through the door? These values might be more appropriate in an HR policy handbook. If you need to emphasize respect or integrity as core values, there might be deeper issues at play.
So I thought I'd write and tell you why they suck and what you can do about that.
Number One: Rather than viewing core values as a mere list of words or phrases, akin to a "to-do list," consider how they align with and support the organization’s vision, mission, goals, and objectives. Design them to guide the organization and its employees toward achieving its vision and mission success.
Number Two: Nobody understands them. Many organizational core values lack clear definitions, or employees aren't adequately trained on their meanings. This is a significant issue. If you haven't already, check out our previous articles here to learn how to engage employees in discussing and internalizing your core values.
Number Three: Everyone uses the same values. You’ve seen it before—whether it's innovation, respect, or another common buzzword, they all blend together. This is a missed opportunity to stand out, attract the right talent, and positively influence your customers. Crafting a unique articulation of your values can truly set you apart.
Number Four: There are simply too many. Don't have a list of 10 or 12 values—employees, and certainly no customer will remember any of them. My rule is five or fewer. Anything more, and people won't remember, leading to indifference.
Number Five: If values aren't linked to employees' jobs; they're just random words on a website or a poster on the wall. Employees won’t really grasp their relevance to the work they do or the decisions they make. This disconnect poses a problem because, without a clear connection, what's the point of having these values? Why will the employee care?
So what do good values look like? They are brief—just a word or two. They are well-defined, with clear meanings. They are unique and relevant to your organization’s vision and mission. They are limited in number—typically four or five. They are actionable, providing employees with clear guidance on what they should and shouldn't do.
For example, when we established the Leader Development Institute’s core values in 1997, they differed from what they are today. This change wasn't due to a shift in our identity but resulted from reflection, discussion, and personal introspection. Through this process, we identified values that truly represent our guiding principles and align strategically with our vision, mission, and goals.
EXCELLENCE: Because of the quality and performance standards we hold ourselves to, we have an intense focus on customer needs and expectations and are determined to serve our customers with extraordinary training and educational services. It's about making the world a better place.
PASSION: Passion...We love what we do. It is not forced, it is our genuine feeling for what we do, and our values. As our internal motivator, passion is inevitable.
PRINCIPLED: It's who we are. We are guided by principles - natural laws.
Doing things with due consideration of the fundamental truths or guidelines that guide human behavior, decision-making, and ethical conduct.
COLLABORATION: We seek to work collaboratively with our clients, trainers, coaches, and staff. We celebrate diversity of thought and ideas with all stakeholders. With impactful cooperation and adaptability, we are able to achieve a common successful goal.
In summary, these values define our actions and intentions, making them actionable and in alignment with our purpose. They directly influence the behavior of our staff, trainers, and coaches, shape our interactions, and set clear expectations of what our customers can expect by partnering with us.
That's my brief take on why many organizational core values fall short and how we can improve them. Discover more about core values, values-based leadership, and how LDi can bring these principles to life, fostering a culture of engagement, inspiration, and mission success at www.LDiworld.com.
Be Extraordinary!
Anthony Tormey, President & CEO
Leader Development Institute (LDi)
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Successful people live by a set of closely followed rules and values, have you read LDi’s Rules for Success? These rules will help you hone in on the best success practices that benefit you in all areas of your life, personal and professional. You can find LDi’s Rules for Success HERE.
