The shape of any company is dictated by the organizational and team values held, and acted upon, by the leadership team.

It is through watching their leaders in action, that people get their greatest clues about the behaviors that are critical to the organization's (and their personal) success.

Not those ever-present (and often a waste of space) cards, brochures and wall hangings that organization's seem to rely upon, to show the world their Vision/Mission and Values -- and which they often largely ignore as they make decisions.

If your people see you doing things such as:

Then the people in your business get the message loud and clear about what is acceptable... and required to "get ahead around here."

Team Values Shape Your Organizational Culture

Here are a couple of examples of companies who live their team values

Johnson & Johnson

The first line of Johnson and Johnson's credo states, "We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services". It was the choice to uphold this value - of putting the needs and well-being of the people they serve first - that saw Johnson and Johnson come through the two Tylenol scares in the 1980's without their reputation in tatters.

Throughout the years Johnson and Johnson, have faced both litigation and controversy over their products. Yet, they continue to hold to the tenet that they do uphold their credo. 

Zappos

Another, highly successful, values-based company well worth studying is Zappos. Zappos lives and breathes its values. I HIGHLY recommend you read Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, book "Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose". This book is inspired and inspiring. In it, Tony shares how their Values and Culture has driven one of the greatest success stories of this century.

The Zappos values drive every single element of their business - from the way they recruit people, to their performance evaluations, to how they interact with their customers. Zappos' values are:

Make no mistake - developing team values is not a waste of space - the best organizations ... without fail ... have strong cultures intimately revolving around their values.

Furthermore, if you look at the trail of failed and poor performing organizations, you will see again, and again, that their common feature is that their cultures are weak and don't keep to a strong values system: Enron, Arthur Andersen, Worldcomm, Martha Stewart are just a few examples.

Your Team Values Drive "Believing"

Your team values drive Believing - the first B in the 4Bs of High-Performance. When an individual believes they are in the right job, in the right company, working with the right leader; then you can anticipate boosts in levels of discretionary effort and intent to stay.

An alignment between an individual's values and the organization's values is crucial. 

When you're hiring people make sure they are clear on their personal values. People who spend time getting clear about their personal mission in life are generally more energized and happier!

Simply because they are very clear about the type of organization they wish to align themselves with.

These people are often high performers. High-performers won't work with you if they don't feel your organization's values (and this means the ones you act upon - not the ones that are hanging on your walls) - are a close match to their own.

Ready for the steps to developing team values? Let's go to the next article in this series

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