Keeping Values Front Of Mind

"If you're not going to take the time to translate values from ideas to behaviors...it's better not to profess any values at all."

~Brené Brown, Dare to Lead

Yesterday, I had the honor of hosting 2 workshops for Morningstar, where we engaged in an exploration of values together.

First we looked at our personal values, not just by picking names from a list, but through the use of the metaphor of a tree.

How have we grown during our lives, both upwards through our branches, and downwards in our roots?

Then we looked at the company values, and I invited the participants to look at the two sets of values side by side, to look for both moments of alignment, and moments of misalignment.

In both groups, many people recognized some tension.

What happens when our personal values seem to oppose the imposed values of our organization, or even our community?

Not an easy question to grapple with.

I encouraged the participants to take a YES...AND approach, and to see their values not as a point of division, but as a point of connection.

We finished by "operationalizing our values" and identifying our "slippery slope" behaviors, as Dr. Brené Brown describes in her book Dare to Lead.

After the session, one of the participants sent me a note saying, "It made me realize how important, and hard, it is to socialize standards well in a company. I hadn't had any meaningful engagement with the corporate values until today."

Some of you may know that I am currently having an issue with my car, which has been at the garage for over 2 months.

The company's values are quite clear:
1. Brand Loyalty & Trust
2. Emotional Connection
3. Personalized Customer Experience
4. Sustainability & Innovation
5. Community Engagement & Corporate Social Responsibility
6. Seamless Ownership Experience

Very impressive from the look of them, yet my experience has shown that they are NOT living up to these values.

If I go back to the quote I shared above from Dr. Brown, "If you're not going to take the time to translate values from ideas to behaviors...it's better not to profess any values at all."

I am grateful to have had the chance to work with Morningstar yesterday, to help them bring these values front and center for the participants, even if it meant also acknowledging some tensions.

Thank you, Marguerite Fraser, Flore ONIȘOR, and Kevin Seifert

Originally posted on LinkedIn with comments.

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