Core values are the who and how of your team: the people and the principles that shape behavior. They improve hiring, eliminate drag, and let team members act like owners. The speaker shows how values like "we own it" translate into real growth, using Abby from Achieve CMO as an example.
When you think about core values, this is like, this is the who, like the people that are on our team. And this is also the how, right? So think of a system of guiding principles and tenets. This is a philosophy of your business and your life. Principles that are held inviolate, an extension of your personal core values and beliefs of the leaders of the organization, right? So why does it matter? Well, it helps you select better team members. It helps you get rid of any drag on the business. It helps you create clear criteria for coaching behavior. It's easier to build leaders if they align with your values. It helps your team act like business owners and truly kind of a next level decision making. So companies that have core values defined, and if, if they don't, then it's harder to, to pick it. You can think of it this way. It's like, okay, there's members of your team and you're like, man, that person is like, they are exactly right for this company. And then try to like define that. Like, what is it about it? Why are you the right kind of person? What are the values that you're bringing today that, that, that matter, right? So here are some example core values. We listen, we care, we perform, we take ownership of everything we do. We do what we say we'll do. We believe work should be fun. We are dynamic and decisive. We genuinely care. We build trust. We invest in growth. We practice open real communication. So in this example of it's a kind of a we statement, right? And then there's also usually some sort of behavior around that we statement. So we can say, we genuinely care. We listen to and serve people beyond what's typically expected of a business relationship. We love to leave people and things better than we found them. So we're saying, hey, one of our core values is that we care, and this is how we care. We care by listening to and serving people. Another, we say, we face challenges with optimism, right? So that's kind of the statement. The behavior then is we recognize there are always options in this abundant world. We keep our cool and don't fold under pressure. We move forward with hope and confidence because we know we'll figure something out, right? So there's the The core value is we face challenges with optimism. How do we do that? Well, we recognize there's always options. We keep our cool. We move forward with hope. Another example, we own it. We have an ownership mindset. We take responsibility. We do what it takes to get the job done. We make and keep commitments, right? The other way to kind of think about too is if, if you can provide examples around this. So I'm gonna pick on Abby here for a minute. She's part of my team. So one of the core values that we have at Achieve CMO is that we are self-starters. Well, what does that mean? It means we are proactive, not reactive. We are always learning and always growing, even if it's uncomfortable. We take initiative or circumstances don't find us a choice to do. So here's an example, right? Abby's a great example of a self-starter. Abby grew up in Kenya. She got a bachelor's degree, she moved to Italy, she got a master's in economics, she came to the US. She joined our company as a marketing specialist and she's growing up in, right? She's teaching herself new skills. So she's teaching herself to be able to be a better player, you know, WordPress or Google Ads or things like that, right? And she's, you know, she's a specialist on, on, um, Ron's team and, you know, he, she helps him get some things done. But each quarter what we're seeing is that her marketing skill assessment scores improve, right? So she's growing. Her self-starter behavior defines that. Um, so we're going to do another exercise here, and I know we're going fast on this, but I want to just introduce some of these ideas. I really want you to take them home a little bit and think about it a little deeper. So what are some of your core values? Think about you personally, like, what are the things that define you as a person, right? What makes you you? What behaviors make you successful? What beliefs drive or are driving those behaviors? What are some things you're not willing to compromise on? Do you have any personal examples of these behaviors? So as you think about those core values, you know, again, we're talking about the why and we're talking about the who and the how. You know, think about people on your team, or maybe you're a leader or a CEO. What about them makes them special? What is it that they bring to the table that's kind of that intangible?
