Long live corporate v?a?l?u?e?s? virtues!

If you spend any time in the workplace or examining the business world as a whole, you've probably gotten an eyeful of corporate values aka a poster or webpage or perhaps a powerpoint slide or social media post about core tenets in which the company's leadership believes. You're meant to believe that the company itself stands for those "values" unequivocally.

But we all know that isn't true.

If you have read many of my articles here or if you follow me on Twitter, you have seen me repeat the phrase: your brand is as your brand does. This means that ultimately your graphic designer or your public relations firm don't dictate how your image is understood by customers, workers, investors and the communities you serve. Take a moment to think about it and you will realize that your perception of any brand and their values is not what they tell you but rather what you experience.

As consultant Jack Krupansky put it so succinctly:

"Virtues and values are commonly treated as synonyms, but there is a distinction — virtues are lived values, values in action, values which are achieved on a dependably regular basis, while values by themselves are ideals or goals which tend to be more aspirational and not uncommonly fail to be achieved on as regular a basis as desired."

Lived values. Values in action. Indeed. What is so sorely lacking for so many companies internally, how they do business, and how they communicate about it is bringing their values to life reliably and consistently. That tension creates disappointment because the leaders set up an expectation of an ongoing commitment to back their words with behavior, which they may see as vague intentions but the people see as promises.

One can take in the news or scroll social media these days without encountering the good and bad publicity for companies taking a stand on issues that affect the places where they do business, their workforce, customers or just society more generally. Terms like "woke businesses" or "critical race theory" or "cancel culture" are being bandied about by everyone from bloggers to politicians looking to score points and get on the news, but what does it all mean and how do leaders and communicators navigate these choppy waters?

First of all, the question as to whether or not companies need to take a stance and speak up on anything from gun violence to voter suppression to systemic racism has already been answered unequivocally by the marketplace. Customers and workers demand it and they take their dollars to companies that they agree with and away from companies they don't. Therefore, you can sit out the difficult conversations but that, too, will make a statement your stakeholders can't and won't ignore. If you want some excellent and thoughtful resources on this topic, scroll to the list at the bottom of this article.

If you still aren't convinced or feel irritated or resistant to the whole prospect of speaking out about things that may make some people—and yourself—uncomfortable, that is certainly worth examining. But I encourage you to push through. This change has arrived.

On to the death of brand values. Or more succinctly, it's time to stop stopping at having brand values. A list of ideas on a page does not a virtuous company of integrity make. The same is true of diversity, equity, and inclusion: having a DEI statement or having one non-white person on your team or board does not make you diverse or inclusive. Having a somber statement on your social media does not meant your company has done its part on systemic racism. Changing your logo to a rainbow logo during PRIDE, while fun, is no replacement for doing the hard work of examining biases and working to fight for LGBTQIA rights. A ramp out front may mean disabled people can get in the door, but what gets them to stay? Brand values are nice. Brand virtues create loyalty, retention, passionate brand advocates and conversion.

Now comes the question of how a company effectively identifies and codifies brand virtues (lived values). For starters, the leadership must decide to stand for the things that matter to your workforce, partners, customers and community unequivocally—even when it may rattle business arrangements and unsettle the status quo. That's hard work. But it is critical. Just as you wouldn't skimp on the foundation for your headquarters or cut corners on your taxes, the time and work that go into committing to what is important to the context of your business are well worth it. Often, a litmus test for deciding the issues is whether something is essential to how/whether people interact with your business or if your workforce and/or customers are overwhelmingly passionate about it. As the leader, you can also just decide what's ethically right. That's a whole other conversation.

Next you have to communicate the issues internally in no uncertain terms. This is what we stand for and this is what we will not stand for. Then, importantly, you must give your team permission and tools to speak up, to intervene, and to use critical thinking skills to identify the opportunities and handle them in a brand-appropriate way. That's messy but it the return on investment is infinitely worth it. These conversations, training, and tools make workers stronger and more confident as well as alleviating uncertainty in the workplace. You must reward those who do make a good faith effort to speak up for your brand virtues and punish those who work against them maliciously or with intent to harm.

If you are worried that you don't have a place in a given issue or community, I encourage you to give people who do a seat at the table. But you do have a voice and you should use it. Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at Omnicom Public Relations Group Soon Mee Kim once looked me in the eyes when I asked what I could do as a straight white man to help with diversity and inclusion and said "we need your voice". I share that wisdom that whoever you are and wherever you sit, you have an opportunity to speak up.

Finally, you should broadcast these to your customers and community. There's a balance here, of course, because you don't want to be seen as photobombing a moment that is not yours, but you also don't remain silent or be last—as that defeats one of the points of having brand virtues, which is to normalize speaking up and to show solidarity. A best practice is what we call a communications cascade, meaning you start in the center and work your way sequentially out like a pebble making waves in water: leadership, communications team, employees, partners, key customers, all customers, elected officials, and the public. At any point in that process you feel you are overdoing it based on responses or balance to other business activities you can hold there and reassess.

It is worth saying that brand virtues needn't be all difficult or divisive such as social justice or politically linked. Your brand virtues might be kindness or helpfulness or just the facts. The point is that they matter to how and with whom you do business and that you take action on them consistently and without provocation.

I would love to hear in the comments instances of where brand values fell short or perhaps didn't align with actions. How did that affect your experience and willingness to stay with that brand over time?

Resources:

• New York Times: Shareholder Value Is No Longer Everything, Top C.E.O.s Say
• The research of Angela Chitkara: "#PRDiversity: The Struggle is Real. Meeting Business Objectives with a 2020 Mindset".
• Investopedia: What Are Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Criteria?
• Forbes: 15 Key Benefits Of DEI To Communicate With Team Members