Belong - Believe - Buy In

For the work we do helping organizations strengthen their cultures and support their team members, Gallup is the best source for statistics on employee engagement.? So I was excited last week when I received an email from Gallup with two statistics I hadn’t seen before:

Number One - Just 23% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they can apply their organization's core values to their work every day.

Number Two - Only 27% strongly agree that they "believe in" their organization's values.

Yikes.? No wonder only 32% of Americans report being actively engaged at work (also from Gallup).? It’s very difficult to meaningfully engage with your work if you don’t believe in your organization's core values and/or can’t figure out how to apply them to your work most days.

While there are quite a few elements that go into loving your work and buying-in to your organization, it all starts with belonging and believing.? A sense of belonging at work comes from sharing your organization’s core values and knowing you have - or can develop - the skills needed to do your job well.? Belief comes from supporting your organization’s mission - its why -? and the strategy it uses to achieve its mission.

As Friedrich Nietzsche famously said, “He who has a why to live can endure almost any how.” Likewise, an organization that has a compelling why, a reason for existence that goes beyond profits, can thrive in environments where other organizations crumble.? And when a person belongs and believes in that type of organization, they will consistently give their best to help the organization realize its why and achieve its mission.? When team members don’t belong and believe… well, it’s probably time for everyone to find new teams.

So, if you’re a leader of an organization reading this, and you’re wondering, “how do I get my people to belong, believe, and buy-in to our organization?”, I encourage you to take the following steps:

Start by identifying your core values.? My partner at 7Q7P, Walt Brown, defines core values as, “the philosophy or attitude that shapes how team members treat each other, clients, and other stakeholders.? They are the deeply held principles that set the organization apart and give it its unique personality and a competitive edge.”? The authors of Tribal Leadership (Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright) define core values as, “principles without which life wouldn’t be worth living.”? Regardless of how you define them, they must describe how people actually behave, treat each other, and make decisions in the organization, or they are nothing more than a cynical marketing ploy.? Organizations that try to pretend to be something they’re not never last long.??

During the seven seasons I was the head football coach at Broughton HS, in Raleigh, NC, our program's core values were stated in the form of commandments, and there were four for them.

1. Work Hard. (Effort)
2. Have Fun. (Attitude)
3. Take Care of Each Other. (Empathy)
4. Be a First Class Citizen. (Accountability - there’s an origin story of the term “first class citizen” that explains what it meant to us, but I’ll save it for another post)

These Four Commandments defined our program, and we could connect just about any situation on or off the field to one or more of the Commandments. ?Do you have a bad attitude?? Not responding well to adversity?? You’re breaking the 2nd Commandment.? Are you leaving trash on the ground?? Cheating on a test?? You’re breaking the 4th Commandment.? Are you slowing down before the whistle blows?? Not getting all your reps in the weight room? You’re breaking the 1st Commandment. ?Are you putting a teammate down for a mistake?? Not celebrating a teammate when he’s successful?? You’re breaking the 3rd Commandment.

We celebrated players when they exemplified the commandments and coached them up when they fell short.? Most importantly, we made decisions about playing time based on adherence to the Commandments.? So even if a player didn’t immediately see the value of all the commandments, he still had to honor them if he wanted to play.? Core values must have teeth to be effective, which means you need to use them in hiring, firing, promotions, and every day decision making in your organization.? When choosing between two well-qualified team members to elevate to a leadership position, ask which one best exemplifies your core values.? When making a tough decision about strategy, ask which course of action will best demonstrate your commitment to your core values.

Once your core values are defined and there is a plan to integrate them, it’s time to articulate a clear mission statement (also known as a belief statement, purpose statement, or noble cause).? Your mission statement needs to justify your organization’s existence by explaining the good it does in the world.? If you’re racking your brain but can’t think of a way in which your organization positively impacts your community, then you’ve got two options: (1) shut down your organization and join someone else’s whose is making a difference, or (2) think about ways you can leverage what your organization is already doing well to help the wider community.

While I was head coach, our mission statement in the Broughton Football Program was to change the world by helping boys become good men.? More important than winning, more important than any sort of success on the field, our number one goal, the one that we used when making all decisions, was to help boys become good men.? More specifically, we strove to empower all of our boys to maximize their physical, emotional, intellectual, and relational talents in the service of their team, school, families, and communities.? When our boys graduated, they didn’t just leave; they were sent – sent into the world with the strength of character to achieve personal success, build loving relationships, fight against injustice, and champion the cause of the powerless.? They were sent to change the world.

Now, this all may sound a little too idealistic to some, but I assure you our mission was real and so was the buy-in from coaches and players.? It was my belief in the transformational power of sports to build character that led me to coaching in the first place.? And this brings me to perhaps the most important point I can make in regards to empowering the people in your organization to belong, believe, and buy in. ?It only works if you truly, deeply, powerfully believe it too.? If you, the leader, aren’t prepared to live and breathe these values and this mission, then don’t even start this undertaking, because it can’t work unless the leader is the living embodiment of the mission and core values.? Your people will only embrace your core values and mission if they are absolutely convinced that you do too.? It doesn’t mean you’ll be perfect.? You’ll fall short of the mark in different ways every day, but you’ll own up to it when you do fall short, and your people will see you walk the talk, see you acting in accordance with your beliefs. Inauthenticity is the single greatest threat to successful leadership.? In fact, given enough time, inauthenticity is undefeated against the would-be leaders of the world who want to lead without believing, who want to hold others to standards they won’t hold themselves to.

I want to leave you with this.? It’s called The Capital Creed, and we said it before every workout, practice, and game.? It was a daily ritual designed to remind everyone in our football family - coaches and players alike - of what we believed in, what we valued, and our shared sense of belonging.? It was a player-led call and response ritual.? It moved me every time I heard it, and on Friday nights, it made my hair stand up on end.??

The Capital Creed

I am a Broughton Capital.

I bring my best effort and attitude to all that I do.

I take care of my teammates; to them I am true.

I compete and execute at the highest level.

I own my improvement and never settle.

I am a Broughton Capital!!!

Who are you?? What do you believe in???