Defining Your Core Values

Core values are a small set of timeless, guiding principles that define your company's culture. They are the foundation of your organization and should be used to hire, fire, review, reward, and recognize people.

When core values are clear and consistently applied, they attract like-minded people and weed out those who don't fit. This creates a strong, cohesive culture where everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals.

How to Discover Your Core Values

Core values are not created; they are discovered. They already exist within your organization. The process of defining them is about uncovering and articulating what is already there.

A simple process for discovering your core values:

1. Identify Your "Right People": Have your leadership team list employees who, if you could clone them, would lead to market domination.
2. List Their Characteristics: Brainstorm the qualities and characteristics that these ideal employees embody.
3. Narrow Down the List: Refine the list to between three and seven core values that are truly essential to your organization.
4. Communicate and Reinforce: Once defined, communicate the core values to the entire organization through stories and examples, and integrate them into all people-related processes.

Defining your core values is the first and most important step in the The Vision-Traction Organizer (V-TO).