Every organization is defined by its core values that create a culture of belonging and purpose. When we speak of a ‘family‘ bond within a company, we are not talking about genetic or marital connections, we are talking about the beliefs that define who we are towards each other, the company, and our clients.
I have worked in more than a dozen different organizations and seen many styles of leadership and corporate values. I have seen what works and what doesn’t. I have also been inspired by reading other authors who studied how to build successful organizations (further reading recommendations at the end of this post).
When I received the honor to become the CEO of Extra Horizon, one of the things I took at heart was creating a set of core values that everybody could understand and embody. There is no greater honor as a CEO than literally having the dials in your hand to create an environment where people can be(come) successful.
So what are these core values to me?
- Value #1: the time for change is always
- Value #2: we already have permission
- Value #3: we deliver the best we can
Value #1 – The time for change is ALWAYS
In order to make the best use of our time for the good of the future of the company, it is imperative we continuously ask ourselves “is what we are doing right now still as valuable as we need to be?“. If not; STOP it right there and then.
In business, the sunk cost fallacy is everywhere around us, especially in management and leadership positions. You have to be ready at all times to throw away what you have already invested in if it’s no longer in the best interest of your future. Always keep your eyes on the future. One very good quote to keep in mind here is never to throw good money after bad money.
One of the challenges here is metrics. Sometimes we have KPIs to measure progress based on finished/delivered promises. This is WRONG. Never use these types of metrics to track progress. Progress is measured on value outcomes, not on output speed. Racing in the wrong direction will make you lose the race. You must have zero issues abandoning initiatives that no longer make sense, just so your metrics would look good. One solution here is to experiment with throwing away small initiatives (EPIC) or just parts of the scope along the way. Removing scope doesn’t necessarily mean removing quality/value.
But this belief goes beyond work and scope of work. When you apply this as a core value, it also applies to:
- changing your business plan hallfway through the year because following it no longer is the best path forward
- retracting promises made to the team when executing it would harm the company
- … or retracting a decision you made for the company that appears to be harming your staff
- as an employee; not waiting for a ‘performance review‘ (who still does these anyways?) to ask for a raise if you feel you deserve one
- …
At Extra Horizon I have very transparently retracted and changed a lot of my decisions and never has my team looked at me as though I was whimsical. It created an environment where everyone knew everything was debatable at all times and I would always be ready to listen to reason no matter where the reasoning came from.
Value #2 – We already have permission
In management circles, we all have a mouthful of “I wish our people took more initiative“. But rarely do I see leaders truly create an environment where it is SAFE to take initiative, and fail at it. Because that’s where it ultimately comes down to. So one of the first things I did was writing this down as a core value; you already have permission!
There is a reason why we hire people. We hire them for their competences. We usually also hire them because we know they have the potential and talent to grow. So why do we then let them go about asking permission to do their jobs? Every day, I get questions from team members about things they are planning to do and whether or not I agree with that. When someone comes up to me with a question like that I ask:
- what do you think personally?
- how much do you think I would disagree with that?
- why are we wasting both of our time discussing this topic?
Very soon, you’ll have a team that knows how and where to ask for input and where to just go ahead and make their own decisions. I am never unavailable for questions and it can be very useful to get me in the room as a sounding board to use my experience and insights. It’s just not a prerequisite for making your own decisions and I will back you no matter what. It truly takes a while for new team members to shake away the fear of failure that came from being managed differently but after a while, you’ll notice the following pattern evolve:
- 1: do you think doing X would be the best option?
- 2. we are planning to do X because …
- 3. we have done X because …
These are some of the results coming from our team:
“Hans is a true decision-maker, a quality that I certainly appreciated and that also inspired me to not always beat around the bush but to move forward. “
“I will always remember the quotes “You already have permission” and “The time for change is always” because of him. Hans inspired us to take action and responsibility while always being ready to share in the ‘blame.’ This created a very productive and positive work environment.
Value #3 – we deliver the best we can
No, this is absolutely not an excuse for mediocrity in the sense of “we’ve done our best, what more can we do?”. It is quite the opposite. It is recognizing we actually rarely do deliver the best we could by looking back and acknowledging what we could be doing better in the future.
We deliver the best we can as a core value means that we continuously STRIVE to be the best we can possibly be. By improving ourselves and the team. By looking back and saying ‘I failed at delivering the best I could and I know I can do better’. But also towards each other being able to say ‘I don’t think we/you delivered the best we/you could’. When you create an environment where it is safe to say this to/about each other without attacking the person, we create an environment for growth.
This core value also gives me a perfect mechanism to weed out toxic behaviour. Sales people who reach their targets at the expense of product teams that cannot deliver on the promises that were made to new clients have NOT delivered the best they could. Development teams that release more new features but also create more bugs that have a devastating impact on the customer support teams have not delivered the best they could. “10x engineers” that refuse to help junior engineers because they feel that’s a waste of their time are not delivering the best they could.
Delivering the best you can is doing that in favor of the wellbeing of the company in the long run. And yes, this even includes taking care of your own (mental) health by the way. If you are overworked and stressed out, you are not delivering the best you can! Talk to me because when that happens I have not delivered the best I can in creating an environment where you can be successful.
Epilogue – surveying your team
the only way to know whether or not you are succeeding in your goals when you turn the dials on company culture is asking the team anonymously. Here are some of the questions we came up with in our annual team survey Click on each topic to expand.
Employee Satisfaction Rate
- How satisfied are you with your workplace?
- How well does your workplace meet your expectations?
- How close is your workplace to your ideal job?
Work Life Balance
- How satisfied are you with your work hours
- How satisfied are you with the current work from home (WFH) policies?
- How satisfied are you with your commute to and back from the office?
- How often do you work overtime?
- How often do you keep working on weekends or on holidays?
- How many times do you sacrifice personal time for work?
Psychological safety
- If you make a mistake, is it often held against you?
- Are all members of this team able to bring up problems and tough issues?
- Do people on this team sometimes reject others for being different?
- Is it safe to take risks in this team?
- Is it difficult to ask other members of this team for help?
- Would anyone on this team deliberately act in a way that undermines my efforts?
- Are my unique skills and talents valued and utilized while working in this team?
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- How much do you think the company fulfills its promise towards diversity through representation in all ranks?
- How much do you feel the company fulfills its promise towards providing me and all of my colleagues with the necessary equity? Is everyone equally empowered to make a difference?
- How well does the company make an effort to secure every individual is respected in regards to their personal needs and challenges?
- Do I feel confident enough that the company provides me with the right tools and points of contact when I need them?
Team accountability & Core Values
- How much do you feel the company empowers me and all of my co-workers to do our jobs without unnecessary oversight? (we already have permission)
- How much do you feel the company allows me and my colleagues to make changes when changes are due without delay? (the time for change is always)
- How well do you feel that both myself and all of my colleagues are continuously improving our way of working to maximize our efficiency as a team? (we deliver the best we can)
Further reading
- The fearless organization – Amy C. Edmondson
- Radical Candor – Kim Malone Scott
- The promises of Giants – John Amaechi
- Multipliers – Liz Wiseman
- Empowered – Marty Cagan
- Team of Teams – Stanley McChrystal
- It’s your ship – D. Michael Abrashoff
- Turn the ship around – L. David Marquet
- Leaders eat last – Simon Sinek