Leadership and Strengthen your Core (Values)
I see so many exercise infomercials on TV these days that tell me I should work on my core.Apparently, my core is no longer a six pack..it is now flabby and flubby and yucky. They tell me that my life will get so much better if I just strengthen my core.
And they are halfway correct - but not about my core. Instead, I need to strengthen my core VALUES.
At the 57th Annual Human Resources Management Conference at the University of Alabama last week, one of the keynote speakers spoke on the issue of core values. John Blumberg said the following..."Having core values will COST you...not having them will destroy you!"
And he is right.
I like to think of my core values as honesty, integrity, family, and spirituality. I hope that most of my decisions that I make in my life are not hard to make - seeing that I should base every one on these four core values.
Article after article tells me that employees are not engaged in their work these days. Motivation and engagement is down. There are many different theories to this, but I suggest that employees are not engaged at work due to one simple fact...
Their core values do not align with the values of the organization!
I loved working for Walt Disney World for many reasons, not the least of which was because my core values aligned with the Disney values.
The Disney values, which are taught and engrained in you in the first week of training, spell out the acronym ORCHID-B, which stands for...
- Openness
- Respect
- Courage
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Diversity
- Balance
As you can see, my core values align very well with the organization values, and that truly made all the difference.
Leaders, I challenge you to discover your core values, and then check the alignment with your organization's values. If there is a disconnect, it may open your eyes to some of the issues you may be experiencing.
And I know that some of you will want to continue to focus on your actual bodily "core"...
I've got news for you. Once you hit 40, your core has done gone to the store and is most likely gone forevermore.
Try jogging instead...
Peter, Our physical can weaken the same as our spiritual core. the only thing that strengthens either is exercise. To me, it seems misleading to tell older people they can not have a strong core.
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Jeff,
great point. If I inferred that, then I apologize. We all need to be aware of our cores - both physically and mentally! Great point.
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