Values are Verbs
I was traveling to Georgia to visit my daughter when I passed a semi-truck, so I took the opportunity to scrutinize the graphics on the side of the trailer because I’m a design geek.
A small graphic near the front of the trailer caught my eye: “6 values, one direction.” I hurriedly asked my wife, who was quietly knitting in the passenger seat, to take a photo of the graphic. She didn’t bother to give me the “are you nuts?” look because she’s been to the oh-my-god-can-you-believe-the-awful-letter-spacing-on-that-sign rodeo before.
The core values of the Wabash National company are fairly typical. Six nouns that a board of directors labored over for who knows how many weeks and then probably patted themselves on the back for excluding the word “synergy.”
The problem with a list of nouns as core values is that they’re not actionable. Core values define the boundaries of your organization. They are the guiding principles by which you expect everyone in the organization to abide. But they are also calls-to-action. Values are verbs.
how do you “integrity” something?
I imagine myself interviewing for a position at Wabash and the hiring manager is explaining that integrity is one of their core values. That’s great. I wouldn’t want to work for any company that didn’t believe in integrity. But how do you “integrity” in your daily work life? What does that look like? Telling the truth? Not stealing paper clips? Keeping your work area clean?
If you want the people in your organization to understand how they should conduct themselves give them verbs. Or better yet, a whole sentence. Instead of telling the world you value “performance,” tell them your employees live by the value “always provide more than expected.” Rather than valuing “people” how about “we treat our team members and our customers like family.” Communicate in human language rather than corporate-speak.
I’m not bashing Wabash National. In fact, I checked out their website and they’re a really cool company that has engineered some amazing innovations in transportation. But, like many companies, they suffer from “inside the jar” syndrome. They are focused on themselves rather than the customer. Even if a potential Wabash customer values things like social responsibility and entrepreneurship these nouns are so broad that they don’t make an emotional connection with their intended audience.
final thought
Core values are not supposed to be a list of dead nouns painted on a wall or stuck on the side of a semi-truck. They are calls-to-action for your employees and an emotional point of connection for your customers. Values are verbs.
Ready to develop your core values as actionable items? Let’s talk.