DO YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR COMPANY VALUES?

It's a topic which keep arising; Andy Bounds, Sales Conference, Patrick Lencioni, Getting Naked and Jon Graham, The Energy Bus all talk about caring and helping first. Back in August 2017 at a business leadership team meeting we discussed our own vision and values for the business, we agreed then that our ethos and never wavering ultimate goal was to bring JOY. 

Our belief to bring JOY as a business is all about caring passionately about the outcome we control for our clients, colleagues and the business. We didn't sit around the table that day stating our ultimate goal was to build a massive sweat-shop business, generate masses of cash quickly at all costs, follow tradtional agency model and then when it's going well sell-out to make a quick buck and disappear off into the sunset. No, it was to care deeply about building a business that delivered excitement, value and amazing personal memories that last a lifetime. 

We are focused on building this amazing business with inspirational individuals, on a long and exciting journey that will have its ups and downs, twists and turns, but with the right vision, right people and right attitude we'll succeed at bringing JOY along every step. 

I thoroughly enjoyed a TED talk by Tony Robbins, in which Tony talks passionately of the emotional connections we desire as individuals and how this drives us forward in business, sports, family and life. His definition of the 6 essential human needs that go beyond the material elements are all rooted in emotions, just as our overarching essence 'JOY' and our brand values are also set. He defined the following:

1. Certainty
2. Uncertainty
3. Critical Significance
4. Connections/Love
5. Grow
6. Contribute Beyond Ourselves

These emotional and psychological states have a far greater need for human beings than any results cold hard cash can deliver. It may sound like a bit of a Jerry McGuire moment, but our ultimate vision, going against the normal, we believe we are building something special, a home, a space, an ethos that will address all of the 6 emotional states. So it seemed important that at the very heart of our vision and values was the need to deeply care about what we do and where we are going, as a team and as a business. 

The need to care is ingrained in each of the six emotional themes above. 

• We all care about certainty. That the sun will come up and that the world will revolve. 
• We also in a backward kind of way need to care that there is some uncertainty. This need for variety, surprise and difference in the world, moving away from the norm. 
• We all have a craving for achieving some significance, pride, sense of importance in your life, work, relationships. 
• Building connections/love are wholly linked with care. The caring for someone, something, with all out passion and openness. We care about our growth as individuals, families, teams and businesses. This drives us to push on and achieve otherwise we would be stagnating and die.
• And finally, there is a deep rooted care about contribution beyond ourselves. This need to care so passionately about something that you feel the need to help/care and contribute without question, without gaining anything in return.

Much like Tony Robbins 6 points above our values are very much rooted in emotion and should instil in each of us a need to greatly care about each and every one of them. We believe that we set the company values as attributes that we must fully be committed to caring about to take us forward as individuals and as a business to achieve our goals. So, what are these values and how do we get onboard:

• Always Real. We pride ourselves on being real people, approachable, friendly and supportive. We welcome people with open arms and make life-long friendships based on being real.
• Give It Your All. We all have a passion for being the very best we can be. This passion drives us and the type of agency we are now and the one we want to become in the future. We don't do 'half-baked'. Our commitment to succeeding is contagious, it's what our clients and suppliers love about us and wish to be part of.
• Embrace Change. Growing, changing, progressing and evolving is at the heart of the business. If we stop evolving and changing we will die. We understand when it is time for change. Change is what makes us creative and inspirational, it gives us confidence and stature.
• Lead The Way. We are all leaders. We take the lead in everything we do from deciphering briefs, to pitching to a massive organisation. Leading the way isn't standing up and shouting about how good we are or dictating our way is the best way. Leading the way comes from continued delivery of our actions with vision, strength, focus and purpose.
• Be Commercially Savvy. We have an amazing insight into the numbers surrounding the business. We are informed, guided and empowered by a clear understanding of the numbers. This accuracy makes us commercially savvy. It allows us to make confident decisions and take effective and informed actions.
• Bring Joy. And finally Joy. Joy is our soul. It's the underlying value that runs through our bodies, is ever-present in our needs and wants. To bring Joy in business is unique. Every action of our business life delivers Joy. It makes us warmer, stronger, more welcoming and magnetic to others.

Listening to the Andy Bounds Seminars, The Small Spark Theory, Nathan Chan's Foundr or Eric Sui's Growth Everywhere podcast continues the affirmation that we are definitely on the right course. Our vision and values really do continue to be confirmed in numerous Ted Talks, business books and podcasts, so we must be along the right tracks.

We want our team to fully care about their situation, position, role, output and future. We believe we must be open and vulnerable to share and discuss our needs, wants and visions in a platform that listens and takes action. I thought I would take some of the findings from my research on caring and culture for business and makee the list below. Have a read and ask yourselves these questions:

1. What do you love about your job? What keeps you excited and engaged? Are you sharing this with your colleagues, teams and the wider business. How can the business help you explore your passions while remaining true to our vision and values? 
2. Do you share information whenever possible with your colleagues and the wider business or do you hold it close and never give it the space to flourish. Does the company give you complete transparency? Are there things you would like to know? We're an open book here, so sharing information builds trust and unity. Ask your colleagues, the leadership team about anything, we're all on this bus together and if you don't know where we're headed then you need to know to make sure we're all in alignment.
3. As my 'Bus Driver' analogy defines, I am merely the guy who gets everyone on the bus, makes sure they are happy, safe and have a platform to go in a direction they wish. You'll all have amazing ideas about the roles you play, the skill sets required, the future direction, tools and systems. Go on stretch yourselves, put your ideas into action. Grab a colleague and take the bus on a slightly different route. You have this freedom and empowerment to take the business on a journey and we'll support you. Use the values as a tool to quantify your actions or activities.
4. Much like the information sharing above, we want you to fully understand what the business needs for the teams and your role. If we're not clear on this then the business has failed. We need you to be crystal clear on what we expect from the teams and what you expect from yourself so we are never at crossed wires and we're laser focused together.
5. Let's focus on our strengths and not our weaknesses. You'll all know by now that I'm not the best wordsmith, I know this is one of my weaknesses. However, I try and focus on my strengths and my positive attributes, fully developing these to try be the best I can be in these areas instead of just trying to be good at everything and ending up mediocre. What's you biggest strength? What can you become the very best at? Are you challenging yourself now? How does this link to the business goals and vision for the future? How can you make the most of your strengths?
6. Kudos! That's Kudos for you and your colleagues. We need to celebrate the small gains, the small wins alongside the big wins. Sharing these with your colleagues and the wider business, these will raises happiness and effectiveness levels, building a strong focused team of caring individuals who support and look out for each other.

To build any successful culture we all must care about it with a passion. Without this we will always fail. We have been a little soft in pushing our values and our vision in the past couple of months, but I believe we will ramp this up over the coming weeks and months. We will become obsessive about these values now and in our future for everything we do.

So, what's the action. Firstly, it is to care. But care about the right items and I very much believe that our values will point us in the right direction everytime. Become obsessive about the values, seek them in everything we do, in everything we produce, in everyone we meet and in each an every one of our staff. Keep measuring yourself against the values and your role. The EOS platform defines a unified army. A group of people who are so strong in vision and action following the sames goals, paths and outcomes that it is almost impossible to hold back. I believe we are building this team. 

Felix Velarde, an amazing agency entrepreneur, states 'Alignment = Achievement'. The essence of this is brilliant in my eyes. We're all align behind a set of values, laser focused with a plan to achieve our goals. Together unified and stronger, driving our own bus to success, caring deeply about our values and our vision.

So, who's on the bus?

References:

Tony Robbins, https://youtu.be/Cpc-t-Uwv1I

Traction, https://www.eosworldwide.com/

Patrick Lencioni, https://www.tablegroup.com/pat/

Jon Gordon, The Energy Bus. https://theenergybus.com/

Flexi Velarde. https://felixvelarde.com/

Foundr Magazine and Podcasts, Nathan Chan. https://www.foundr.com/ 

Small Spark Theory Podcast, Lucy Mann. https://w