TSR #9: Value seeking and company alignment
Value seeking should be at the top of your (and your company’s) list
4 minute read
What's in this newsletter:
The importance of value seeking
Why it’s important to connect to company values
One actionable exercise you can do with your team
The importance of value seeking
Your values, as well as your company’s, should be present in your everyday life, not just something you talk about in job interviews.
On a personal level, they show:
Where you came from
How that informed who you are
How you want to show up for yourself and the people around you
On a company level, they show:
What your company prioritizes
How they want to show up for their consumer
How they will help you grow
Why it’s important to connect to company values
Your company values should be more than just words painted on the office walls, in a perfect world they’d provide you a guide for a number of things.
Culture
If prioritized, values can show how people will treat each other, and how the company will treat you.
Motivation
If aligned, values can provide you the motivation and ownership to take hold of your work and drive impact.
Feedback
If revisited, values can be a consistent benchmark by which you assess your performance, as well as your peers’.
One actionable exercise for you and your team
Try these steps to ensure you’re reinforcing culture and values everyday:
Write down your personal values, if you don’t have these handy you can reference our storylines exercise.
Look at your company values and pull out 1 or 2 that align with your personal values.
Write down 3 ways that you personally embodied them last week.
Re-do step 3 again. Really be critical about this, and reflect if you’re showing these values to your team.
Now write down 3 ways you’re going to embody these values this week.
Some considerations:
Build in your own accountability: schedule time to amplify and support people if you need to, but do something to keep yourself accountable.
Make it obvious: most people will think you’re just in meetings all day, so make the fact that you care about values known to your team.
It’s ok to be human: Own up to your mistakes and admit when you’re wrong, or when you’ve missed the mark in living out your values. Promise to get better, and then make sure you follow through.
Try it out and let me know what you think.
