Your organization’s mission is why you do what you do.
Your vision is the change you intend to make on the people and places you serve.
Your values? They are the truths that you hold dear. The beliefs that are fundamental to the culture and ethos of your organization.
Values should be meaningful, not clichés such as “teamwork” or “excellence.” There are certain attributes about how professionals work together that should be a given. Most organizations want their employees to work in teams and to strive for excellence.
Instead of thinking about those common statements of how you work, spend time capturing statements that articulate what you believe.
Our client, the Greater Ohio Policy Center, was able to capture the essence of their truths, such as non-partisan voice, bi-partisan work, and pride in place. Learn more in our article Strategic Greater Ohio.
Another client, Columbus Children’s Theatre, determined their beliefs to be artistry, magic, curiosity, triumph, and openness. Learn more in our article Columbus Children’s Theatre is Everlasting.
While we have shared Columbus Recreation and Parks in previous articles, like Summer in the City, their values statements are uniquely theirs, including joy: our programs and activities are fun, celebrate culture, and add to our quality of life and nature: as stewards of the land, we invest heavily in conserving our natural environment.
The uniqueness of each organization should be illustrated in these statements, and each of the words further articulated with a sentence so that they are easily remembered and understood.
Spend time on this activity in your next leadership team meeting. If you do not yet have values statements, create them. If you have them but they are not meaningful, change them.
We promise the work will be worth the effort to have everyone in your organization agree that, yes, that language speaks to us.
Article by: Kerri Laubenthal Mollard, Founder & CEO
