In the chaotic world of entrepreneurship, it is rare that entrepreneurs assess how they work, and how they organize and execute their days. We are often running from fire to fire and donโt think about the ways we can be more efficient, more balanced, more rested and more effective.
Your Company Values Must Be Real
Take a look at this list of corporate values: Communication. Respect. Integrity. Excellence. They sound pretty good, donโt they? Strong, concise, meaningful. Maybe they even resemble your own companyโs values, the ones you spent so much time writing, debating, and revising. If so, you should be nervous. These are the corporate values of Enron, as stated in the companyโs 2000 annual report, and as events have shown, theyโre not meaningful; theyโre meaningless.
โEmpty values create cynical and dispirited employees, alienate customers, and undermine managerial credibility.โ
Most values statements are bland, toothless, or just plain dishonest. And far from being harmless, theyโre often highly destructive. Empty values create cynical and dispirited employees, alienate customers, and undermine managerial credibility. Values can set a company apart from the competition by clarifying its identity and serving as a rallying point for employees. But coming up with strong valuesโand sticking to themโrequires real guts. If youโre not willing to accept the pain real values incur, donโt bother going to the trouble of formulating a values statement.
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