1. Core VALUES
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2. Where are you with Core Values?
This deck is designed to help you create your core values or test and refine them.
Here’s what’s included:
Slides 3-5 are Educational
Slides 6-8 are Examples
Slides 9-10 are Exercises
Slides are Next Steps
NOTE TO FACILITATOR: These slides are designed for our DIY clients to use at any step in the process of discovering and using your Core Values in your business. You can either pull slides from this deck to customize our Annual Planning deck for your team if you will be working on this topic, or you can use these slides to guide discussion in an ongoing Think Rhythm to work on Core Values.
If you get stuck at any point in the process, please reach out to our consulting team for help.

3. Core Ideology Comes from Jim Collins
Core Ideology is a combination of Core Values & Core Purpose
Core Ideology coupled with Envisioned Future (BHAG) sets the vision
NOTE TO FACILITATOR: This is an educational slide.
PRE-WORK: Have your team prepare for this discussion.
Collins writes about this in the HBR Article: Building Your Company’s Vision:
Have your team read this article for homework before you start your Think Rhythm on Core Ideology.

4. Core Values A handful of rules that remain constant over time.
Your Core Values already exist; they don’t need to be invented but discovered.
There are going to be many things that you will value in the company, but only a handful of Core Values.
NOTE TO FACILITATOR: This is an educational slide.
This is an exercise of discovering what they are, not deciding what they should be.

5. Core Values They should describe your Culture & drive your Behavior
You should be able to get an idea of the personality of the company by studying the Core Values
Your Core Values should help you make decisions
NOTE TO FACILITATOR: This is an educational slide.
Prospective hires should be able to get an idea of what it’s like to work here by discussing your core values with you.

6. EXAMPLE Their Core Values Their Story
Founders realized they didn’t like working there anymore.
Had to fire almost half their managers.
Focused on developing their core values.
Used the new values in hiring new employees (and in firing employees that were not living them)
Today they have only 7% staff attrition in a high turnover industry.
Their Core Values
Admire our people
Wow our customers
Find a better way
Be passionate about making a difference
NOTE TO FACILITATOR: This is an educational slide. Read the story below to give context to this example.
Nurse Next Door Example:
Background
Ken and John (Founders) realized that the business they created had become a place they did not want to work.
They fired 10 of 26 managers... even without knowing what their core values were.. they just knew they were the wrong people for the company.
They set the goal of being a top 10 place to work in BC Canada within 3 years
Solution
They developed core values – identified the shared values of the people in the company who represent everything good and right about the company. Also identified the values missing in the people that they let go.
They boiled it down to 4 CORE Values- that they would live and die by.
Values in Action:
They had an employee who was doing a fine job, but not living the “Find a Better Way” value.
They identified and addressed the issue with the employee, but after working with her for some time,
Eventually fired her when there was no improvement in this one area.
Improved as a leader in the eyes of the rest of the people in the company.
Today they have over 1000 employees – and only a 7% staff attrition rate - in a high turnover industry
They are driven by core values and purpose.

7. EXAMPLE Their Story Their Core Values
Used its Core Values to create a competitive advantage
Their desire was to create the best customer service experience for their customers.
They believed that if they hired the right people and wowed their employees, their employees would in turn wow their customers.
Even high performers who do not live the core values are let go.
Their Core Values
Deliver WOW Through Service
Embrace & Drive Change
Create Fun & a Little Weirdness
Be Adventurous, Creative & Open- Minded
Pursue Growth & Learning
Build Open & Honest Relationships with Communication
Build a Positive Team & Family Spirit
Do More with Less
Be Passionate & Determined
Be Humble
NOTE TO FACILITATOR: This is an educational slide.
Zappos Example
Zappos used its Core Values to create a competitive advantage in the business. Their desire was to create the best customer service experience for their customers. To achieve this, they believed that if they hired the right people and wowed their employees, their employees would in turn wow their customers.

8. EXAMPLE Keep Smart Go the 2nd Mile Be Appreciative
Family is a Blessing
No TDC
NOTE TO FACILITATOR: This is an educational slide.
Rhythm Systems Example: You can read the story of our Core Values on our site:

9. work on YOUR Core Values
Identify a few people you think represent what’s best and right about the company
Tell a few stories about each person on your list
Find the underlying values that drive the behaviors from the stories
Boil it down to unique values
NOTE TO FACILITATOR: This is an activity slide. This is a very fluid and conversational exercise; it doesn’t have to follow the exact order below, but the important thing is to get people talking, recognizing patterns, and capturing ideas.
EXERCISE
To identify core values, ask the team to come up with a few people they think represent what’s best and right about the company. Who would you take with you if you were to leave and start a new company?
Ask them to tell you about each person (one at a time). Have them tell a few specific stories about them in action.
Make notes on a flipchart. Look for patterns, and highlight and checkmark the things you hear multiple times.
Ask the team to think about the underlying values that drive the behaviors demonstrated in the stories.
You might also consider people who did not work out in your company. What were some of the attributes that made them a poor fit? Convert the negatives to positives and add them to your list.
Try to identify 5-7 unique core values (that number is just a guideline.)
Run it by the test.... Would you fire someone for violating them, would you take a financial hit to maintain them, do they describe the personality of the company?
For a worksheet to help your team with the brainstorming process, see Rhythm University:
Work on your Core Values in Rhythm:
2 TIPS:
It’s important that you coach the team to consider this an INTERNAL exercise only. Don’t worry about what your customers will think if they read it on your website. Your marketing team can work on that later. What’s important now is that this team (then the rest of the company) understands what the real core values are.
Don’t get bogged down in WORD SMITHING. There will be time for that later. If you can get the ideas grouped into 5-7 unique categories, then you can assign one or two people with the task of cleaning it up. At this point, you just need some basic understanding of what the core values are. Sometimes you can ask someone to take this on as homework and report back to the team in the next Think Rhythm meeting.

10. Core Values Test Would you Fire someone for not living them?
Would you take a financial hit in order to maintain them?
Are they alive and visible?
Do they describe the personality of the company?
NOTE TO FACILITATOR: This is an educational slide.
There can be many values that are important in the company, but only a few that are CORE.
And because you must be able to answer YES to all of the questions listed here, it is better to only have a few.
You can also try “the hallway test” – walk down the hall and ask people to name your Core Values. They should be able to do this without hesitation. If your team doesn’t know the core values, then they probably aren’t living them. The next slide has 10 ways that you can integrate your Core Values into your business to keep them top of mind for your team.

11. 9 Ways to Bring Your Core Values to Life
Use them in your everyday language.
Create a culture book or other way to share stories about how the team lives the Core Values.
Use them in recruiting new employees and promoting or firing existing ones.
Integrate them into your orientation for new employees. Use them in handbooks and training materials.
Include them in your Job Scorecard and review them in your formal appraisal process.
Create recognition and reward mechanisms around them.
Share stories about them in your internal newsletter.
Incorporate them in your Quarterly Theme/Main Thing.
Display them prominently in your workspace.
NOTE TO FACILITATOR: Use them in your everyday language to ignite passion in the organization.
Now that your Core Values have been discovered and tested, what’s next? You will need to roll them out to the rest of your company. You can stay on a path of progress of using them and testing them to see if they hold true after a few quarters. You may have to tweak them if you notice that something is missing or one of them is not really being used as much as the others.
Here are some ways to use them and keep them top of mind for your team. Decide on a few things to do now to begin using them in your company, and revisit this list periodically so you can continue to integrate them into your company’s daily life.
They are key foundational pieces of your strategy, and it is important that your team knows them and is able to use them to make decisions, even when you aren’t there.

12. Assess How You are Using Your Core Values Today
Red-Yellow-Green Your Core Values
Your team lives them even when the consequences could be personally detrimental.
Your team can make decisions quickly, without waiting for permission because of them.
Your team uses them despite short-term financial hits.
You are using them for hiring and firing decisions.
You have defined a set of Core Values but haven't started using them yet.
You have some buy-in for your Core Values, but the team fails to use them under pressure.
Some of your Core Values do not resonate with the team.
You have not yet defined Core Values, or you think they aren't the right ones.
Your Core Values are misused as marketing tools or as internal political weapons.
NOTE TO FACILITATOR: Working on your long term strategy is a journey rather than an event. Discovering and using your Core Values is an iterative process. If you or your team falls into the Red or Yellow or just haven’t been able to get to SuperGreen on your Core Values, you can get in a Think Rhythm to continue working on your Core Values.
Contact your consultant if you need help discovering or finding the best ways to use your Core Values as a foundation to help you grow with purpose.