Core Value #1: The swings should always be open.
Last week I had a meeting with a colleague that felt a little…”off.” They showed up the call with suuuuper low energy and responsiveness, which was unusual. Throughout the day, I noticed my mind kept drifting to our call and it kind of bugged me. Why would I care so much about their energy? Everybody has a bad day, right?
The next day, as I was reflecting on my grouchiness about the whole situation, it hit me. This “ticked off” feeling was just a signal that I cared about something a whole lot. The interaction with my colleague had touched upon one of my core values.
In her book, Dare to Lead, Brene Brown defines a value as “A way of being or believing that we hold most important.”
And as it turns out, the things we hold most important are also the things that cause us the most irritation when others violate them. AND THIS IS SUPER HELPFUL INFORMATION!
Because once we notice our irritations, we can use them to reverse-engineer our core values!
This little trick works for both personal and business core values, but we’ll dive into the business side of things for today’s post.
If I didn’t already know my business’ core values, I could ask myself, “What do I believe is so important in this situation that it caused me to have this strong reaction?” For me, it’s because I believe that giving my energy and enthusiasm to others is a way I care for them. It’s a form of love.
At The Process Mavens, we call this core value “Spread Enthusiasm.” We are not stoic process nerds. WE ARE JAZZED TO BE HERE. We come to the room alert and ready and we maintain a posture of presence throughout every Zoom call. It doesn’t mean we’re silly and crazy all the time. We’re just very very focused and engaged. Our clients feed off of this type of enthusiasm - it lights them up and makes us all collectively MORE productive during our sessions. Our enthusiasm is a gift.
So, what things really tick you off? (Besides loud gum-chewing...just me?) Make a list and then dive deep into each one to ask yourself what value that irritation is pointing to. What do you care about so deeply that its violation makes you go crazy?
This little exercise will guide you to your most strongly-held core values. (And it’s pretty cathartic to list all the stuff that makes you mad.)
Once you can name your core values and operationalize them in your business, you’ve got a much stronger foundation to scale the amazing culture you’ve built, so you can still stay “you” no matter how much you grow.
We looooove helping our clients name their core values! If you need help, click the button below and let’s talk!