A short speaker monologue about identifying and enforcing core values in small businesses to improve hiring and team harmony. The speaker explains turning core values into “immutable laws” that cannot be violated, uses examples (keeping promises, punctuality), and recommends discovering values by noticing moments of pride or upset.
Chapters
I'm a person of my word. And so when I say I'm going to do something, I do it. And in turn I kind of have that expectation of other people. And when somebody says to me they're going to do something and it's important to me and then they don't do it, like, what the heck, what happened? So that's a violation of that core value. Another example that comes up in a lot of the businesses we work with is show up on time, people want you to be there on time. And we've had, I've had some business owners say, you know, I have these team members and I tell them to be here on time and 8 o' clock is when we start. They're walking in at 8:03. And so I've had to say, okay, let's back up. What does being on time mean to you? And then the business owner says, well, you know, when I was a kid, my dad always, we got in trouble if we were, if we weren't there 10 minutes early, we had to leave everywhere and be everywhere 10, 10 minutes early. And I said, okay. So we just need to define that because that's really what you mean when you say being on time. And so clarifying what these core values are, getting them pulled out of the business owner is key. And then turning those core values into immutable laws and immutable laws in our businesses, it means that they can't be broken, they can't be violated. And if someone violates the immutable law, chances are if they can't quickly correct it and turn it around, they're not going to be welcome to stay in the business anymore because they're creating a lot of friction and disharmony in the business with other team members or with clients and customers of the business. So starts with core values and then using those core values in what we call immutable laws to attract more team members who have very similar core values themselves. Their rules for doing life are very similar to yours and the rest of the team. That creates harmony. From the get go. A lot of conflict just dissipates because there's good synchrony with those core values. And the way to identify them two ways. Pay attention to when you're upset because underneath that is an immutable law or core value that's been violated. Pay attention to when you feel most proud, the moments in your business and in your personal life when something, somebody has done something that makes you feel really proud, they are honoring or reflecting one of your core values.