I can’t say that corporate values come up all that often in the startup world, but today I’m inclined to suggest that founders and officers should consider getting some. All too often in business, there are situations that come up that invite us to do things would not be acceptable in any other situation. Things that might threaten relationships, credibility and even our reputation. There are situations that happen on a daily basis that offer us the opportunity to shine too. In business we tend to look at these situations like chess players, and as a result we are thinking about which move will help us win the competitive advantage. Unfortunately, competitive advantage for comanies doesn’t always translate into success or competitive advantage for people. People and companies come and go, but the people behind them have to live with themselves and in their communities long after they depart from their company or exit from their startup.
My company isn’t really big enough to have a lot of corporate values yet, so this is a great thought excercise for me. We do have a mission, and our mission is:
“Our success is tied to the success of our clients.”
What that means to us is that if we do something that negatively impacts one of our clients it has a negative impact on us. The flipside of that, which is what we emphasize on a daily basis, is that what we do helps our clients do well and when they do well so do we.
I’ve seen a lot of corporate values over the years, but one of my favorite ones is the Gold Rule (do onto others as you would have them do onto you). Now this is a corporate value that I like. It doesn’t just emphasize work situations, but also community and life situations. If big corporations followed this rule then maybe they would think twice before they implemented slash and burn policies that adversely impact the communities that they live in and/or serve.
Of course we don’t live in a perfect world, and we do make choices that we look back on and have second thoughts about. In thise situations it is best to learn from our mistakes and to do our best to make better decisions in the future. We are all human.
