Permission To Be Human
Posted on 6th October 2022 at 18:06
– The Conscientious Leaders' Guide To Creating A Values-Driven Culture by MaryBeth Hyland.
Show me where you spend your money and I will show you what your values are
What if people finally woke up to understanding that their behaviour is affecting everyone around them?
What if they have the tools to learn how to evolve?
What if people understood that they are simply and completely a walking, talking, living, breathing set of values?
What if they knew that their companies were too?
This is what MaryBeth’s book shows us and guides us to use values proactively.
When your behaviours are in alignment with your values, your business will take off. We each create energy when we are all aligned.
Values are not just values, but rather they are the key to unlocking the emotional intelligence that already exists within us.
Most companies create values because of marketing collateral rather than the reality of trying to live to them.
Values x behaviour = culture
Encyclopedia.com defines corporate culture as "the shared values, attitudes, standards and beliefs that characterise members of an organisation and defines its nature.”
You can't outsource culture. You all have to be part of it every day.
When you unlock the language of values, you'll be able to translate the ebb & flow of your energy into an understanding of how your energy either ignites or extinguishes your value system.
Values serve as a handshake between you and your employees on what you should expect from each other. They represent the core of the company and how you define success and failure.
Culture = values in action.
Culture exists whether you do something about it or not.
An external consultant cannot fix the culture for you.
We have to start with I.
No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. Albert Einstein
Culture starts with us. It's time to look in the mirror, understand yourself, what you do, what you bring and how you can improve. You have to start with yourself in order to create a values driven culture. There are no shortcuts.
Anaïs Nin quote - “we don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."
Values are not just for work, they live within us forever, they are who we are.
Values are intrinsic motivators that represent a person’s principles or standards of behaviour, one's judgement of what is important in life.
Mandy Hale quote - “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you don't belong."
We will make mistakes, we are human, but it’s our values that define how we react to setbacks. Be positive, be strong and know that failures are for learning from, not reacting to.
Values in our business
MaryBeth’s book takes you through process to define and implant your own and your business’s future. Please read it.
First define your Values in words, then create behaviour statements for each.
Behaviours are our values in action. What actions are you and your people taking?
As well as defining the values and behaviours, we also need to find the boundaries that reflect our values.
You are only as strong as the lowest behaviours that you allow, or that you gossip about.
Psychological safety.
We need this to be creative and to truly add value in our workplace.
When we have it, we:
see mistakes as opportunities to learn
are willing to take risks and fail
speak our mind in meetings
openly share our struggles
trust in our teammates and supervisors
stick our neck out
When we don't have it, we:
see mistakes as threats to our career
are unwilling to rock the boat
keep our ideas to ourselves
only tout our strengths
fear our teammates and supervisors
are shouted down when we speak out
Every business has culture keepers and culture killers.
Find the culture keepers then nurture and grow them.
Culture keepers are the individuals who lead and maintain the positive aspects of your organisation’s environment, a reflection of the company’s core values. Culture killers are the people who are both actively and passively taking away from a positive work experience.
A culture keeper will:
identify issues and present them with solutions at hand
police the organisation’s mission
be optimistic about the team’s future
be transparent about work experiences
remain consistent in their messaging and communication
become a trustworthy advisor to colleagues
embody your values
A culture killer:
complains about the situation but doesn't try to solve it
has no connection to the big picture
only cares about how the future affects them
gossips about work experience
changes their story depending on their mood audience
causes colleagues to avoid them when possible
violates your values
Expectations - agreement = disappointment
Expectations + agreement = satisfaction
As a Leader you must teach the values to everyone to live by them.
When a values violator gets promoted, people immediately lose trust in the Leadership judgement and start to lose interest in being held accountable to the business values.
Build values into your company -
Use them as decision filters
Budget and investment in decisions
Our investments are a direct reflection of who we are
Infuse them into meetings
Intent before content in all meetings
Leaders use them to guide and coach staff every day and part of the appraisal process
Recruitment & retention
People seek out a culture that meets their values
It's straight up unfair, unkind and inconsiderate not to ensure that new employees values fit those of the business
Waiting an entire year to give someone one review is never good enough
Policies and procedures
Appreciation, recognition, and celebration
Exit interviews and termination processes.
A quote by one of Marybeth’s clients – “Your work has given us permission to be human and I didn't know that was possible here? It is a reminder that we are human beings, not human doings.”
So Values in any business do matter no matter and are so important. When we all have alignment with values it unleashes the energy, creativity and fun in us all.
Go understand your values, your business values and have permission to be human.
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