I have noticed an alarming trend among leadership teams in recent years. There is an increase in conversation about core values, but the conversation stops before discussing core practices. They behave as if values have benefit without action. However, principles are not helpful until they are practiced. Using the example of honoring volunteers I will walk through three key elements of core practices. Core practices are:
1) Clearly defined. If my core value is to honor my volunteers, what does that mean exactly? What does an honored volunteer look like? How do they feel about the job they do? How do they describe it to others? How do they participate in our training and recruitment?
2) Systematic. When are we going to evaluate how well we honor our volunteers? (at our weekly staff meeting?) How will we measure it? How often should we ask these questions? (every week? month?) What happens if we fall short of our expectations (we discover a large number of our volunteers do not feel honored)?
3) Relentless. People will ask, "How long to we need to maintain this focus?" However long you want to maintain your core values. You must relentlessly pursue clarity and consistency, repeating your evaluation system over and over again. The reality is that you will never stop doing this, it will only feel like you have. At some point what once seemed extremely aggressive will be normal, and what may seem over-the-top to outsiders will be status quo for your organization.
What core values have yet to become core practices in your organization? What stage in the process do you need to address? (clearly defined, systematic, relentless)
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