Your Core Values Speech on Steroids
As a CEO, company founder, department head or some other business leader, it is no surprise that you set the tone for your employees. From my consulting work with many corporate leaders, I have found that the most successful leaders are the ones who share several common traits. From having a ‘culture first’ mentality to being closely involved with the people operations, these leaders tend to have excellent leadership and great company cultures. One of these traits also includes their ability to champion their company’s CoreVals™ both internally and externally.
Great Culture Czars™ take every opportunity to discuss their CoreVals and share stories about the company culture on every public stage- at company-wide meetings, at speeches outside the organization, even during engagements with partners. They tell stories to ensure they become a part of company folklore. They’re proud of the culture they have worked hard to cultivate, and they help make it thrive by sharing current examples of how the culture positively shapes their workplace.
If you have you been working on establishing your company’s CoreVals, the next big step is a BIG REVEAL which includes a CoreVal address presented by the CEO. This should take place during a company-wide gathering. However you connect with your team, your delivery system will be a thoughtfully composed speech that sums up your vision for the company’s culture.
Picture the scene, you’ve called the whole company together for an announcement. You have unfurled a banner with your core values emblazoned across it, proclaiming your collective beliefs in word and deed. You have invited staff members and dignitaries to the microphone to share their stories of the organization’s most memorable and positive impacts. Then it’s your turn. Here’s some suggestions on how to best create a CoreVals address.
Your CoreVals address should be:
Inclusive
Inspiring
Evergreen
You will have many occasions to repeat your address, but only one chance to make a memorable first impression on your most important audience.
Note: while creating your CoreVals is best done cooperatively as a team, the speech that will dictate what defines your company is best led by the leader. If not, your employees will wonder, if you can’t say it, how can you do it?
For a leader desiring to make an emotional connection, a great way to build the trust, affinity, and buy-in you are looking for is to be vulnerable and transparent.
In The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle writes, “Vulnerability doesn’t come after trust—it precedes it. Leaping into the unknown, when done alongside others, causes the solid ground of trust to materialize beneath our feet.” If you haven’t been a vulnerable leader up until this point, it’s okay. As Coyle points out, once you start being vulnerable, be assured that you are building trust with your team. One effective way to show vulnerability at this moment would be to tell a story about a time when you worked for an employer whose culture was weak or nonexistent, and how that made you feel. Or you could relate a story behind one or two of the core values you are about to present. Make it personal and don’t be afraid to get emotional. Appeal to your people as individuals and as a group. Strike a tone that is both high-minded and down-to-earth.
What you will say matters deeply, almost as much as what you will do afterward, because words are just words if not supported by the right actions. Remember that values are connected to emotions. If you don’t emotionally engage your team, they will have no reason to feel or act on those values. Even if people don’t remember what you said or did, they will surely remember how you made them feel.
Your CoreVals is not a one-off deal! This address is a speech you will give as often as appropriate to build connection and trust with your team. Onboarding new hires? Check. Project debriefing? Check. Working with a new stakeholder, whether a customer, partner, supplier or shareholder? You bet. You may want to pen an in-depth version plus a couple of abbreviated editions as you will be giving this address in various venues to various stakeholders.
Keep your wider audience in mind when composing your CoreVals address. It should appeal to current staff, new employees, vendors, customers, investors, shareholders, and other stakeholders. By keeping the content universal and authentically delivered, it will be just as relevant to anyone as it will be to your staff. Your speech is not just a speech. It’s a challenge to yourself as well as to others to motivate success in those behaviors.
You can check out one iteration of the Culture Czars® CoreVal™ speech that I have provided for your reference. Trust me, this is only one version of this speech that I can recite by heart, with my eyes closed (if needed)! We have discussed at length the importance of also displaying your CoreVals graphically, and this is an important time to have a visual reference on hand. Whether it’s a Powerpoint slide or a physical poster, it will provide guidance for you and reference for your audience. Plus, you put so much work into creating this, so why not flaunt it!
If you need some guidance in composing your CoreVals speech, we have provided our Culture Fix® Workbooks for free on our website. Check them out, ensure your words become deeds and see results within your business!