Company Culture: Vision, Mission & Values – Part 4

If you squeezed me, I’d leak out the company’s values. 

Values. If you squeezed me, I’d leak our company’s values right out of my body. These are the sources of my passion and company muscle. Values are muscles, so we talk out loud about values at Nolan Painting. We even have our top values written up on the walls.

They’re literally written right on the walls of our building.

I think it’s exciting to shape your organization’s values and cultural muscles, a company that you have designed and implemented. I can tell you how I want Nolan Painting to be; I want it to be the best place to work in the area. I also want us to be truly friendly – friendly in the shop and friendly in the community. Everyone at Nolan Painting should be accountable for their actions, and that starts with me. Also, I want us to be transparent, keeping everything out in the open. These values direct me in decision-making, hiring, spending, marketing, and nearly everything else. We talk about them all the time in our company. 

So our four core values are: best place to work, friendly, accountable, and transparent. 

You can think about what principles drive your business because your values should shape who you are as a company.

I once was having dinner with a friend. He was the CFO of a large organization in the Philadelphia area, but not the owner. He probably made five times what I made. He said to me, “You’re the lucky one. I have to uphold the values of our shareholders. I don’t have a thing to say about them. You get to build a company around your values.” That stuck with me. And I realized it was one of the most spectacular things about having your own company:

You get to decide what is most valuable.

I get to decide on which values are most significant to me and build my company around them. So, I have, and they are: friendly, accountable, transparent, and being a best place to work. I talk about these values and why I chose them in detail in my book, Organizational Muscle. You can pre-order here on the blog if you’re interested.

Company culture is a values discussion.

Do your employees understand the values of your company? Are they living those values in the workplace? Think about what values matter the most to you. I suggest you choose the four most significant core values for your business and start to build with those. Here are some to get you thinking, but feel free to add your own.

 

Establish the core values of your company.

See you Thursday. Build muscle.