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Better Business, Better Life Newsletter – Issue 6
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Here’s this week’s business tip, life hack & find of the week… And don’t forget the inspirational quote, which you can download as a wallpaper or lock screen for your phone.
If you find great things that you’d like to share then feel free to email me for inclusion in one of my weekly newsletters.
BETTER BUSINESS
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Core Values are Stupid!
Well, until they’re not 🙂. I was reading this great article in Inc.com about how core values are only really core values if they are truly how your business operates & holds each other accountable.
I’m sure we’ve all been there, where a company has decided that they ‘need’ to have core values. And so, they put together a working team & they come up with some fabulous (or not so fabulous) ideas about what those core values should be & next thing you know they’re up in posters on the wall & I suspect management got to put a big tick in a box somewhere.
I think the worst case I have seen of this was when I was working at a large Insurance company as the Manager of the Marketing Teams & a new senior leader came in & decided that core values is what we were missing, so they took the name of the company (I won’t mention it but I kid you not!) & then tried to stuff some value descriptors around that.
There were some odd letters in the name so they had to be very creative. And next thing you know screensavers on our computers & posters on the wall & ✅ – job done 😀
However, if you had walked around the company & asked anyone what the values were & what they meant for their job or the way we worked, no-one really cared!
And then there’s the classic overused, broad values, such as – Communication, Respect, Integrity & Excellence. There’s more but I like these 4 for very good reason.
I am not saying they are bad values to have – I think they’re almost essential, which means they really are just hygiene factors rather than core values. Plus they don’t engage your team & more importantly do they really differentiate you from competitors.
And by the way, they were also the values of Enron!
In EOS we do it a little differently. We use the work that Patrick Lencioni did & wrote about in BNR on how to make your values mean something.
He says that we first need to understand the different types of values:
- Core values
- Aspirational Values
- Permission to play values
- Accidental values
I won’t go into each of these, you can read his NBR article for that.
However he describes core values as, “The deeply ingrained principles that guide all of a company’s actions; they serve as its cultural cornerstones. Collins and Porras succinctly define core values as being inherent and sacrosanct; they can never be compromised, either for convenience or short- term economic gain. Core values often reflect the values of the company’s founders.”
“Values initiatives have nothing to do with building consensus – they’re about imposing a set of fundamental, strategically sound beliefs on a broad group of people. “
In his article for NBR he also talks about being aggressively authentic, owning the process & weaving core values into everything you do.
And that’s where I, as a professional EOS Implementer can help. Core values is one of the 8 questions that we answer to build a simple Vision & Traction that produces results for your business.
If you’d like a copy of this article, then please contact me directly – debra@debrachantry-taylor.com
The 6 tips that Inc.com suggested for bringing core values to life, which I also really like are:
- Focus on true values over word choices. While descriptor text explaining the importance of each core value can be changed over time as needed, real values should be immutable.
- Only choose values you can back. You will no doubt think of more values than you can reasonably support. Choose only those you are willing to go to bat for, repeatedly, as a company.
- Execute a rollout plan. Our team created a fun video explaining each core value. Both the act of making each video and the sharing of them helped people internalize them.
- Put them everywhere. We made mousepads, stickers, and more, and we distributed them over time to the team. People can’t act on core values they’ve forgotten. We’ve given monthly Core Value Awards for years now.
- Reframe management challenges in the context of values. By remembering to ask which core values should govern a particular difficult decision, the right answer materializes much more quickly.
- Teach your staff to think in context of values. By asking your team the same question – about how a given problem looks in context of your core values – you begin to provide the entire company with a problem-solving framework.
Read the full Inc.com article here –
BETTER LIFE
Naked Games Can Be Good For You!
I knew that would get your attention & no, it’s not what you think 😀
Last year I turned 50. I don’t feel 50 but sometimes, my body & my brain remind me. We all know it’s important to look after our body & that’s why we invest in personal trainers, gym memberships, bikes, kayaks etc.
However, do we take as much care of our brain?
Fortunately playing games & doing puzzles can help keep the brain from deteriorating. Steve & I love jigsaw puzzles, we often play scrabble or do crosswords in the mornings & recently we’ve been learning to play chess.
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But sometimes it’s nice to get outside too.
So even more fortunately, we have discovered that you can get waterproof versions of games that you can play in the spa 💦
Yes – plasticised cards & waterproof scrabble are all things – who knew?
But, our favourite is the one pictured. It’s a floating board game that has checkers & chess on one side & backgammon on the other side. And when we’re not playing those games it doubles as a drinks / snacks holder & card table – for those plasticised cards
Find it here –
FIND OF THE WEEK
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Stress is your friend.
I love TED talks – Simon Sineks’s Golden Circle TED talk first got me hooked on them.
And this is one of my favourites too. I have had a stressful few weeks with Dad in hospital so I was drawn back to this TED talk.
How to make stress your friend.
This is how the TED website describes it:
“Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case.
Psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive, and introduces us to an unsung mechanism for stress reduction: reaching out to others.”
Happy watching!
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE
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Perfection is the enemy of progress
Winston Churchill
I love this quote as a past perfectionist.
In a business sense, many of the business owners that I work with (& myself in the past life) can’t let go of tasks because they don’t believe someone will do it as well as them. But if you don’t let go then you, will never be able to elevate yourself to do the stuff you love & are really good at – And that stuff is the gold for your business! Plus it makes you happier & more fulfilled.
So, I now say 80% is good enough & I let it go 😁
Remember, you can download this quote as wallpaper or a screen lock image for your phone.
NEED HELP?
If you’d like to learn more about any of these tools or would like to find out how I can help you achieve a better life through creating a better business, then book a free Discovery Call with me.
We’ll talk about what you want to get from your business & your life & come up with a plan to do that!
Debra Chantry-Taylor
Certified EOS Implementer | Accredited Family Business Advisor | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Speaker & Workshop Facilitator