Values

Overview

If you and your organization have already established your mission and vision statements, you may be considering creating the next most common element of the first section of your strategic plan: your organization's core values. 

Guidance from Pat Lencioni

Several years ago we came across some guidance about values from the prominent management consultant and author, Pat Lencioni, in his book The Advantage. Much of what we describe below is influenced by his guidance. 

Types of Values

Values can be tricky to come up with because there are likely many different types values that you and your team have. Using the categories below can help you clarify your core values -- those values that will end up on your strategic plan.

- Core Values: Core values are just two-to-three behavioral traits that are at the heart of your organization. They don't change over time and you and your team consider them non-negotiable. 

- Permission-to-Play Values: These are minimum behavioral standards that are expected in most organizations. Values like "integrity" and "professionalism" are good examples. These types of basic values don't need to be highlighted on your strategic plan.

- Aspirational Values: These are qualities that an organization wishes to have, but aren't inherent like the core values. 

Sample Values

We've found that there are two ways to capture core values: as one word or as a short, action-oriented phrase. 

One-word values are the more traditional way of capturing values. Examples are:

• Excellence
• Justice
• Humor

However, we've found that a lot of organizations get even more benefit by creating unique, action-oriented phrases to document their values:

• Make it Happen
• Keep it Simple
• Willing to Sweep Floors

All things being equal, we've found that using short phrases tends to stick more in the hearts and minds of your team, creating more behavioral alignment over time. 

Creating Your Team's Core Values

Lencioni suggests the following basic process for coming up with your core values:

1. Identify those team members that are at the core of your nonprofit and list their key behavioral traits. 

2. Next, identify those current or past team members that aren't/weren't a good fit for your nonprofit. 

3. What are their traits? The opposite traits are those that may be good candidates for core values. 

Prioritize the top two-to-three core values by asking these questions:

- Have these values been a part of our organization for a long time? 

- Are we willing to be punished for living these values? 

- Is it possible that some of our team members may take those values too far?

Answering "yes" to these questions will help you separate the core values from other values. 

This activity may take several conversations to get your list of core values right. Once you come up with your list then document them in your Compass of your strategic plan.