how do you live out your core values in everything you do?

Companies preach about their core values but fail to live up to them. How can companies live up to their core values in everything they do from recruiting, onboarding, training, terminating, etc...

How do you establish your core values and embedded them in every process?

The first process is to be clear about exactly what it is you value and why you value it. Most companies – write a values statement because they think they have to.  But they spend very little time actually thinking about what those values mean to them and how they manifest them in their personal lives. Spending the time to really be clear about what the values are and why you want those to be your values – ie: how do they manifest in interpersonal relationships – is the first step.

The 2nd step is to build metrics to measure the implementation of those values in your organization and then to reward people – who actually manage to embody those values. For instance – if you value kindness, keep a log of kind acts done by employees and then give the people who do the most kind deeds – a raise, or a bonus.  Quarterly survey staff and ask them – who was the nicest to you and the most helpful among your colleagues – and quarterly – use that information – to promote, give raises to and bonuses to people who are kind.   If you don’t measure and reward the behavior you want – you aren’t going to promote that actually behavior in your company.

The third thing to do is to invoke the values in every single discussion in the organization. Talking about strategy – ask the question – how does this proposal advance our core values and our business needs simultaneously. If it doesn’t – ask the team to rethink how whatever it is could be done while embeddeding the values into the work.  The more you openly talk about the values, the more it will be a habit and the more your employees will understand – these values aren’t just words on paper. They are expected to integrate them in all decision and planning. If you don’t ask about them in the context of the actual work – your employees will naturally assume, they aren’t actually important.

What are your core values? What does it look like and how does it change the way companies do things?

One of my core values is – compassion, for myself and others. I am constantly asking myself – am I treating this other person with dignity and compassion? Or not. If I am in conflict with someone, I think – compassionately about them. I humanize them and design an approach that treats them with dignity and compassion. It’s part of everything I do.

How can companies change the way they do things?  

This is a behavioral question for me.  In order to create this change – they have to be intentional about what behaviors they reward and emphasize. And which ones aren’t acceptable.  Many companies and managers want civil dignified people – but they reward cutthroat individuals. One of my friends once said – the culture of any organization is determined by the last person promoted.  Be intentional about promoting people who embody the values you claim to care about. Let the people who aren’t on board with the values – go. Over time, the values will become embedded and a lived reality for your staff.

One last thing. When we talk about values – we are talking about how we are treating other human beings. Our colleagues, our customers, our vendors. Everyone. The point of our values is to treat people well and with dignity and compassion and to create communities where everyone can thrive. If this isn’t your goal – you probably aren’t talking about values/ethics.  How we treat people – and what we tolerate our managers doing to people- dictates our corporate culture. If you want a nice place to work – you have to hire nice people and get rid of the not nice ones.

Want to learn more about how to do this? Take one of my classes. All my courses integrate discussions of core values with information on how to actively apply them to your work. https://humanistlearning.com/programsoffered/

Whether the problem is leadership/management - https://humanistlearning.com/principles-of-humanistic-leadership/
How to de-escalate conflicts - https://humanistlearning.com/de-escalate-conflicts/
Or how to stop bullying in the workplace - https://humanistlearning.com/workplacebullying1/

Being clear about your values and actively invoking them to improve your own behavior and the behavior of others - will help you be the person you want to be and be more successful as well.

Socially Good Businesses

Social good is a social necessity. There are a few ways we can approach economic activity – specifically capitalist activity. For too long, exploitative capitalism has been the model and has used the levers of power to crowd out humanistic forms of capitalism. To put it bluntly – people are fed up with exploitative capitalism and the various forms of supremacy exploitation leads to – to justify the dehumanization of the exploited people.

 It doesn’t have to be that way and more and more people are saying – enough. We won’t tolerate exploitative capitalism anymore. We demand humanistic capitalism.

I believe this is a necessity. Exploitative capitalism doesn’t just exploit labor. It exploits resources. We live in a tiny planet with limited resources. Our activities have been polluting our homes. This pollution is harming us. All of us.

It doesn’t have to be that way. We can pass laws to regulate pollution. These regulations work. Let me give you an example. I grew up in Los Angeles. We used to have smog days – days where the air quality was so bad – we weren’t allowed outside to play because it would damage our lungs. Catalytic converters and pollution regulation was implemented and by my 20s – I could see the mountains that ring LA. I had no idea they were there growing up as I couldn’t see them.

Smog is something India and China are dealing with now. It’s a solvable problem. The solution involves the creation of businesses and the hiring of people and the application of science and technology.  We can both – protect our environment and engage in business.  Those that claim it’s either or – are not only mistaken, they are intentionally lying because they want the freedom to exploit resources – including human resources without paying for the harm they are causing.

People want companies working for the public good because the ones that aren’t – are actively harming us and in some cases, killing us. This is why there is a move away from exploitative capitalism to humanistic capitalism. It’s about survival of the species at this point.

I am a member of the International Humanistic Management Association. http://humanisticmanagement.international/ - consider joining us.

Business as Community

Unless you are a solo-entrepreneur, your business includes people.

Your company is built by people for people and people matter. Those people who intersect with your business are your community. Whether they are employees, bosses, or customers.

This understanding of business as community is the foundation on which humanistic business management is built. Smart leaders recognize and accept the responsibilities and opportunities that comes with being part of a community.

Business should be both about opportunity and about responsibility. Exploitative capitalism exploits the opportunities, but doesn’t take responsibility for the outcomes of their behavior. It’s irresponsible.

Humanistic capitalism grasps opportunities in a way that is responsible to the communities in which they work and operate.

Isn’t it time we start rejecting exploitative business models and promote more humanistic ones?

To learn more check out:

• Why Humanistic Management
• Principles of Humanistic Management

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

How a more humanistic approach to business can help create a more effective business and make the world better at the same time.

I founded my company, Humanist Learning Systems as a for profit company with non-profit goals. My intention is to reinvest profits into non-profit activities consistent with the goals of my company. I eventually hope to establish regional centers for Humanist Learning that can be used as community centers to support the growing community of Humanists nationwide.

What are my goals? Teaching people how to live ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

I provide online courses for personal and professional development focusing primarily on humanistic leadership/management. My core courses are about how to eliminate bullying/harassment/discrimination and retaliation in the workplace using science. Using science to solve social problems is a radical idea, right?  

I had considered setting up my business as a non-profit but eventually decided to go with a for profit model instead. Here is why. I know how to get bullies to stop using the science of operant conditioning. The problem is that not many people know how to do this so I kind of have a moral obligation to teach people this.  The problem is that advertising is expensive.  It’s not enough to have a solution that actually works if no one knows you have it.

I have a problem and it’s a problem that requires money to solve. Here’s my solution.  I plan to use the workplace training knowledge dissemination pipeline to disseminate my knowledge and to fund getting it done!

Here is how it works. I REALLY want to reach parents of kids so that I can teach them these skills so that they are able to teach their kids these skills in real time as they encounter bullies.  Where are the parents? In the workplace.  If I can reach them in the workplace I can simultaneously teach them how to deal with workplace bullying, harassment, retaliation and discrimination AND how to help their children with school bullies at the same time.

I created my business around a core line of sex harassment programs that are compliant with state and federal harassment training guidelines as a way to help not only satisfy legal requirements but to use those requirements to get this REALLY important information out into the world to the people who need it and want to learn it.

And if I succeed? Imagine what society would be like if a whole generation of kids were never bullied because they knew how to get it to stop!  That’s not a pipe dream – it’s doable – with education.

A humanistic approach to business isn't just about treating the people you work with as fully human. It’s also about using business to make the world a better place by harnessing the money that is generated by business to create social good.

Business interests and human interest are not mutually exclusive.

To learn more about the courses we offer at Humanist Learning Systems visit: https://humanistlearning.com