What Do Core Values Do? Why Do I Need Them? (Well, At least the Top 11 Reasons Why)

I was asked a truly great question the other day. What do core values really do? Why do I need them? Now, my usual reaction to a question like this is to spit out the answer. I mean, I talk about this stuff all of the time, and I can give a pretty good answer. But I stopped myself. And I thought about the question. And I replied “let me think about it and get back to you.” So I thought about it. And then I went back to the person. Here is what I said. Continue reading →

In Southwest Airlines Lesson #15: Invent your own Culture and put a top person in charge of it, it talked about the need to be unique. A key component of doing this is creating your own language. So today we visit Lesson # 16: A culture has its own language.

Here is a snippet from Southwest Airlines:

“Throughout this feature you’ll see some unusual wording, spelling, and capitalization: pilots are Pilots, passengers are Customers, and love is LUV. That’s all part of Southwest’s focus on its internal Culture. These people and that LUV are too important for ordinary spelling. Call it the Southwest dialect. It’s a meaningful thing.” Continue reading →

Impose or Include: When Discovering Our Core Values, What Should I do?

I often get asked the question: What is the best way to discover my core values? As I stated in my post “The Mission to Mars: 6 Simple Steps to Discover Your Core Values,” I always say the same thing. Do the Mission to Mars exercise. It simple. And it works. Continue reading →