Culture - Core Values

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” A quote attributed to Peter Drucker, one of the most admired leadership academics of all time.
 
While a brilliant strategy may be admired, it is an organisation’s culture, supported by leadership, that attracts, engages, energises and aligns great employees to the achievement of business goals.
 
“So what exactly is business culture?” you ask. Good question. For me, it is a combination of an organisation’s ideology and personality. “The way we do things around here.” “The things that matter to us.” We will explore this in the next column or two.

The foundation of a business culture is a set of Core Values. According to Collins and Porras in “Built to Last” (2002 paperback edition), Core Values are a business’ “essential and enduring tenets – a small set of timeless guiding principles that require no external justification.”
 
Along with a Core Purpose (covered in The Beacon in October 2017), they make up an organisation’s Core Ideology – a “self-identity that remains consistent through time and transcends product/market life cycles, technological breakthroughs, management fads, and individual leaders.” These don’t sound a lot like “maximise shareholder wealth,” or “make the boss obscenely rich.” But time and time again, when studies are undertaken about enduring business success, these very “unbusinesslike” Core Values lurk in the findings.

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My favourite set of Core Values are The Body Shop’s:

• Against Animal Testing
• Support Community Trade
• Activate Self Esteem
• Defend Human Rights
• Protect Our Planet

 
Please note:

• There are five Core Values. Three, four, or five is optimal.
• Nothing about mind-bending customer service, eye-watering quality or transcendent teamwork. These are not inherently wrong, but they are not mandatory values. Nothing is.
• They are not platitudinous waffle.

Pick the things that REALLY matter to you. Articulate them well. Hire, reward, recognise, promote, discipline and fire people based on them. Talk about them till you are blue in the face. And never, ever break them yourself. If there is a choice, take the hit – lose a customer, pay a fine, take a drubbing in the media, but defend your Core Values like a Maccabee.
 
If they are distinctive, they will attract employees who feel the same as you, and who will be energetic evangelists for your business. Just as valuable, they will drive away people who have different passions, and people who would rather not be passionate about anything. Pretty soon, you’ve got the best team in town. Boom.

Core Values are a business’ “essential and enduring tenets – a small set of timeless guiding principles that require no external justification.”