Core Values:

Core Values:
Building a Strong Foundation
by Milton C. Habeck of Unbeaten Path International
August, 1998

Building a successful consulting practice without communicating a well-defined set of core values to your staff is analogous to building a home without a foundation. In both cases, things will eventually start falling apart. In a consulting practice, core value foundation problems appear in the form of hurt feelings and demotivated people.

Core value information voids inevitably lead to miscalculations, surprises, disappointments, and (usually) departures. A great deal of this pain and discouragement can be avoided if a pre-employment consensus on core values is achieved. Quite candidly, the author wishes he knew as much about the subject when he started Unbeaten Path as he does now.

On the chance your consulting practice doesn't have a formal statement of core values, permit me to recommend the set below as a starting point for your consideration:

Enthusiastically embrace affiliation and teamwork ... the joy of succeeding together is far greater than the joy of succeeding independently. Therefore, strive to cultivate constructive team relationships so that the consulting practice succeeds as a whole.
Trust is precious. Extraordinary attention is justified to sustain interpersonal trust.
(An observation: broad implementation of the virtual office paradigm is enabled by this core value together with the one stated immediately below.)

Embrace the work ethic: an honest day's work for your wages. Strive for excellence and reasonable precision in your responsibilities and tasks.
Intellectual honesty and integrity have high value. Attempt to formulate opinions and positions which are consistent with your point of view on related subjects.
Customers are deeply respected. Deliver the highest quality work you are capable of. Ensure that your interpersonal style and appearance enhances your professional image with clients. Honor and respect others as you would chose to be honored and respected.
View your accomplishments with a humble spirit.
(An observation: we acknowledge God's helping hand in whatever is achieved. We've learned that pride is always an incredibly destructive force within an organization.)
Adopt a self-controlled manner which preserves the reputation of the consulting practice. The moral and ethical choices you make will honor every other member of the team. Your character is revealed by who you are when no one is looking.
Initiative and creativity are embraced, constrained only by good business judgment and accepted business practice.
Strive for clarity in your written and verbal communications while being exceptionally sensitive to the feelings of the recipient. Take responsibility for listening with precision.
Endeavor to be honest, constructive, and edifying in your speech; gossip is viewed as destructive.
(An observation: the CEO is generally the last person to find out that unfounded rumors are eroding his/her reputation. We've learned that the advice offered in Matthew 18:15 is very helpful. We can also report that if you always tell clients the truth, you don't have to memorize anything.)
Be good stewards with the resources and assets the company has been honored with. Avoid waste if at all possible. Carefully consider cost relative to quality and evaluate suitability for intended use before making an acquisition.
Consistent good judgment demonstrated with small decisions builds confidence that an individual is capable of sound decisions concerning more important subjects.
(An observation: early findings about a new employee are very predictive. For example, we learned that one individual was charging the cost of local calls between his home and the office to the corporate calling card. When this person eventually left, we discovered other errors in judgment with much more severe consequences.)
Major investments are supported with comprehensive business plans and a due diligence examination of the proposal.
(An observation: we failed to communicate this core value to a manager before he joined the team. He subsequently interpreted virtually any supervisory review of his business plans as unwelcome micro-management.)
Marketing and advertising plans are developed in compliance with good business practice and a statement of professional advertising principles.
Adopt generally accepted business practices like separation of duties and sound internal controls.

Over the years we gradually learned the value of presenting this statement of core values to every job applicant. At the outset, this seemed to be a risky endeavor. After all, one principal job interview objective is to "sell" the consulting practice to the applicant. Would one or more of the specific core value points scare a promising individual away?

Nevertheless, after several core value-related collisions resulted in employee departures, the only prudent approach was to seek a core value consensus with every job applicant. We had a very pleasant surprise: pre-employment discussion of our core values did an outstanding job of selling the company. Now it's become a crucial ingredient in our recruiting strategy ... for both employees and sub-contractors.

Applicants receiving written job offers are reminded about the core values again ... adherence to these values is stated as their first job responsibility. After joining the consulting practice, new employees soon learn that the statement of core values is not a framed sheet of parchment hanging near the soda machine. Rather, they learn that it's the way business is conducted every day by people at all levels of the company. They learn it's for real.

As a manager, it's a joy and privilege to work in an environment where the values you cherish are fully understood and embraced by the people on your team.