What are your core values?
What are your core values?
March 24, 2010 by Taylor Studios
In 2003, I refined and introduced our mission and core values to the staff at Taylor Studios. Below are excerpts of what I said in introducing them to our staff.
The core ideology defines the enduring character of our organization. It is a consistent identity that will transcend product life cycles, organizational charts, management practices, changes in leadership, stressful consultants, different picnic committees and so forth. It will serve as a source of guidance and inspiration. When in question, we will refer to our core ideology.
Our core ideology consists of our mission or core purpose and our core values.
Core values are a few values that are so fundamental and deeply held that they will change seldom, if ever. In the past, I may have confused core values with operating practices, business strategies or cultural norms. These are open to change, but core values will stand the test of time.
In finalizing the core values, we went through a process of asking ourselves “if circumstances changed and penalized us for holding this core value would we still keep it?” If it was a yes, it was not a core value. We also looked at our past and noted that these values have always been with TSI. We can envision them being valid for us 100 years from now. We would hold these core values, even if at some point one or more of them become a competitive disadvantage.
In writing these core values, I focused on getting the content right. They may not be written perfectly or poetically. They can be expressed in a multitude of ways, but their essence will not change. So, even though these values are primarily for our internal use, I may publish them to the external public. You may see some wordsmithery, but the values and purpose will remain the same.
Our mission or core purpose is Taylor Studios, Inc. reason for being. It is our soul. It is our perpetual quest.
Once again this purpose will endure. It can’t necessarily be fulfilled or achieved because it is an ongoing purpose, forever pursued.
Our core values and mission are here to guide us and hopefully inspire us. We will live these core values and mission, with discipline and consistency.
Hopefully, these values will be meaningful to you. Hopefully, they are compatible with your personal values. Peter Drucker, the father of Management Theory, once pointed out “that the best and most dedicated people are ultimately volunteers, for they have the opportunity to do something else with their lives.” I want to thank you for volunteering to work here.
Know that if it is not core it is up for change. Just because we have always done it a certain way, doesn’t mean we always will.
These core values guide Taylor Studios daily. Do you live by a set of core values? Does your organization live by a set of core values?