It is crucial to have a solid foundation for your company before starting to grow. One key element to creating this solid foundation is having core values. What are core values, and why are they needed, you might ask? Well, they define who your company is. They set the guideline for the future decisions you will make on behalf of your company and mold the company culture. Core values play a critical role of building your brand. They also give potential customers a glimpse into what is important to you and how you do business. As Roy Disnesy said, “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.”
This might sound daunting, but it is definitely worth the effort. Choosing your core values is something that shouldn’t be done alone either. You and your leadership team should work together to select these foundational words. They don’t have to be big words; you can choose words like family, integrity, power, or short sentences that state who you want your company to be and how you operate as a business.
You should have no more than four core values chosen for your company. Each one should be short, sweet, and to the point. Core values need to be impactful, but also honest and straightforward. The core values you choose should be publicly shared, so potential customers and clients can see them.
It is also imperative to make sure each member of your team understands the company’s core values and has the same definition of what they mean. “Family” can mean something different to everyone you ask, so it’s vital that your team is on the same page.
To learn more about core values, listen to the Dear Anna, A Marketing Podcast below. You can also read the transcript below or connect with us to learn more about how we can help.
Dear Anna, A Marketing Podcast
Listen to the latest episode of Dear Anna, A Marketing Podcast to learn directly from Anna Anderson and her guest, Dan Hawkes, an EOS coach, about just how powerful setting up core values can be. You can also read the transcript of the episode below. To get all of the new podcasts, follow Dear Anna, A Marketing Podcast on Spotify.
Transcript of Anna’s Core Values Interview with Dan Hawkes
Anna: Hello and welcome. I’m Anna Anderson, the host of Dear Anna The Marketing Broadcast. I am thrilled to be joined today by Dan Hawks, an EOS coach. My good friend Dan, it’s a pleasure to have you here today.
Dan: Good morning, and thank you for having me.
Anna: Yes. Well, Dan, we’ve worked together for years. And one thing that I’ve always so appreciated is your honesty and your ability to cut through the chase and identify the true issue. Today, we are going to be talking about core values, their importance and how to use them within your company. And this is something you’ve done for years.
Dan: That is correct. I’ve been doing this for about going on seven years. So we do we’ve got a long history and you guys exemplify core values in your own personal company. So it’s a good topic and a good thing for people to understand.
Anna: Well, and Dan, as an EOS coach and a certified implementer, you know this better than anyone. You’ve been with us for quite a period of time since almost their inception. And so after helping countless businesses, I couldn’t think of anyone better than you to talk through some of these questions on core values. Because in my line of work, from a marketing perspective, I see so many people don’t truly understand what core values are and how to use them.
So let’s go right to the basics. What is a core value from an EOS lens?
Dan: Core values define who you are as the people, your culture in your company. They define how you act, how you think, who you are, core values. When once you discover them and you have to do it as a team, they are not dictated on from one person. It is the leadership team of the company that discovers them. Then you hire, fire, review, reward and recognize from your core values.
That’s how you use them in your day to day, and you have to live your core values. They cannot be aspirational. So if they’re aspirational, your company will know it and it’s something you want to be, but you’re really not. Core values have to be who you are. Your culture.
Anna: You know, I think this is one thing you say, “It’s so simple” and yet I see businesses struggle through this muddy place of trying to define their core values. When you’re creating your core values, you shared that it’s truly the leadership team coming together. It’s not just one individual saying, “Hey, here’s our core values.”
We’ve found in our company the core values were were discovered through not just a five minute session, but it’s really an ongoing evolution. And there something that should be reviewed on a more frequent basis than just, “Hey, we set our core values and that was five years ago.” Is that correct?
Dan: 100% correct. You should review your core values with the leadership team at a minimum of once a quarter. In EOS, we always ask for examples of how we use our core values in the last 90 days, and it gets the team involved. Once your core values become your company’s culture, it really strengthens your organization.
People do not want to leave. It’ll attract the right people and repel the wrong people from your company. It’s an amazing thing to watch. It is a hard journey, but once companies do the work and live their core values, they have something that no other company has. And most of the time companies have the owner, the leader of the company come up with a wall of words that look pretty, sound pretty, but they mean nothing because they don’t define what’s happening in the company. They’re not living them. They’re just fancy words on the wall.
Anna: While talking about fancy words on the wall and turning them into the life of who your company is, how do you recommend writing those core values and making sure they can stand the test of time? What are some benchmarks you’d say that it will go through the fire for you and your company?
Dan: Once you and the team agree on the core values, what they [the core values] are. Who they are as people. Defining their culture. Once they get there, simplify them. Get them down to three words if possible. Do not write paragraphs; people get lost at length. Keep them simple. Once you have them simplified, your core value [for example,] “humbly confident” is a core value.
Humbly confident. What do we mean by that? We are very humble people and we’re very confident in what we’re doing. That’s what it would mean. The core value would be humbly confident.
So simplify it. Come up with a couple of bullet points, two to three bullet points after it that the team agrees on. So we know what we mean when we say it.
So this isn’t is my version, your version, [or] somebody else’s version. We all agree [what] this means, because again, what we do with these is we hire from them and we fire from them. Review, reward, and recognize from them. So we have to agree and we have to keep them simple and consistent.
Anna: 100%. I agree with the definitions. I’ve seen companies who try to do EOS and they simply pick these really powerful words. They put it on their wall and then everybody’s definition of what that value means are very different. I see a disconnect between the H.R. team to the operations all the way down through the company. And it’s challenging, because no one really understands what that amazing word is to them as a business. So that is definitely great.
So we’ve got our core values. We have them simplified. But, yet, what are some fun ways you have seen – and even maybe some challenging ways – where the core values have come into play and have really made the company stronger?
Dan: Well, they always make the company stronger. One, when everyone agrees on defining who we are and they’re willing to do those five things: hire, fire, review, reward, and recognize from them [the core values]. [They] bring consistency to the company. The people in the company know who we are, how we’re being judged, and what the expectation is. It creates an amazing culture.
What you should do once you’re aligned on core values, then you’re willing to do those five things. What you should do is have core value shoutouts. If you’re in weekly meetings, and you should be, you should have core values shout outs during the week. Always within 24 hours of seeing somebody exemplify one of the core values, you should give a shout out to them. Call them out and say, “Thank you so much for doing whatever that is on your core value.” It’s the quickest way to build culture, and you’re doing it in a very positive way.
[It’s like] carrot versus stick. Always use a carrot far more than using a stick when you have to have a coaching opportunity with an employee. It’s very easy if you’re doing a lot of core value shout outs. It also reinforces that you’re willing to do those five things in your company from the core values. People understand very quickly that you’re really going to hire, fire, review, reward, and recognize from the core values.
Anna: One hundred percent!
Dan: And the process actually goes very, very quickly.
Anna: Well, we have seen the power of core values in our company. I’ve seen them in many other companies. And personally, if I could ask all the businesses that we work with to have core values and to live them as we’ve discussed, it would be an amazing business environment. So Dan, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom when it comes to EOS, the power of core values, and how to implement them or build them effectively for years of success.
Always a pleasure, Dan. Hope your EOS journey as you assist other businesses is amazing in the coming days and months ahead.
Dan: Thanks so much for having me and God bless and we’ll talk to you later.
Anna: Sounds good. Bye.