Start with values NOW!

Happy New Year!

A new year full of opportunity. I hope that you’ll be able to see the possibilities for you, and more importantly, you will be able to capitalize on them.

We, human beings, like the nature of (hard) transitions, such as the start of a new year.

It allows us to start all over again with a clean slate. It’s a new calendar year, so we have new resolutions, goals, plans, and budgets.

That’s why I decided to start this first insight of 2022 by making a passionate plea for true values in companies.

Not the poster type of values.

True values-based teams and businesses.

Values are the foundation of a high-performing and engaged culture.

Values determine who gets hired and who doesn’t.

Values determine what behavior gets stimulated and what behavior is not acceptable.

Values are the foundation for decision-making.

Values are your DNA.

Do you believe you have those types of values in your company?

Do you believe those types of values will make the difference long term?

You can run a business without them. Absolutely. It happens all the time.

Smaller businesses where the culture is a blueprint of the founder’s behavior.

Bigger businesses that are held together by hierarchy, rules, and processes.

Here’s the thing.

Those businesses do not get everything out of their potential.

And that’s precisely why you should start now!

Because it’s a new year, and everyone will get the momentum opportunity.

Because the world we live in is asking more and more for values-based cultures.

And because it will help you drive performance to a higher level.

That last one is the argument that sells best. Because performance counts most.

An example of a good value is the ability to embrace and drive change.

Change is constant and is not going away. It’s a fact of life. But, we human beings are by nature not good at dealing with change.

The challenge, therefore, is to build a culture where people love change and can drive it inside their teams.

Based on these principles, we can define several behaviors that help build a culture of constant change.

Those behaviors are descriptors of the value and drive recruitment, personal development, performance dialogue, and team interaction.

On top of that, it gets defined for different levels. The foundation of the value is the same, but the implications are different for a CEO or a colleague at the check-out.

That’s how a proper value gets defined.

That process creates direction, clarity, alignment, and in the end, results.

That’s what you need to believe in.

It requires a vision, imagination, patience, and determination. The results will not be immediately visible. You will need to align your entire organization, and depending on its size, that may take a while.

Your company consists of several mini cultures. Cultures start to evolve and change for each additional group (some experts call it tribes) of about 150 to 200 people.

That’s why a robust set of values can help build the glue that holds it together and drives it forward to better performance.

If this makes sense to you, and you realize your values need more depth, more actionable behavior, and more alignment, why not start now?

2022 has just begun.

Your best opportunity to do this was when the company was still small. Your next best option is NOW.

Your turn: why not start with values now?

Happy New Year! Do more of what makes you happy!

Erikjan

PS. My personal growth webinar will now take place on Thursday the 20th of January at 2 pm CET. Sign-up below.