Values in Action

I was coming home from a guy's weekend, more of a retreat, for 3 days where friends gathered to talk about life, God, purpose, challenges, mistakes, healing, and restoration over some outdoor adventures, steaks, and beer. This was not the first time I had done this and hopefully, it will not be the last. I find that on these long weekends, removed from most distractions and given the time to spend deep in thought and prayer, I experience my most profound moments. In times past it was on one of these weekends, that I discovered how intertwined my identity and business were, and it led me to reread the book of Job and imagine my life without my business. 

Slowly and over time, I began to do just that. With it, came this amazing sense of relief. My business and I were not the same, and because of this, I was able to let go of much pain, anger, and frustration, while having a much more positive outlook on the future with a healthy lifestyle in the present. I bring all this up because on my most recent weekend I learned a few more things about myself. Two of which I believe are worth sharing.  

The first is around this idea of values and tension. To start, for companies to have sincere values, that resonate with the organization and inspire action, the people of that organization need to also have values they live by as well. It is often individuals who possess deeply held personal values that, when aligned with the companies in a meaningful way, create some of the most passionate and loyal team members you will ever see. For that to happen, individuals such as an organization need to be specific and define what they care about, what matters, and why.  

The second most important thing we can do after defining what our values are is work to align what we do and say with what we claim is most important. This is what I like to call "the work". The hard work of eliminating tension from who we are at our core and creating more internal peace and harmony that allows what we stand for to shine even brighter. To give you an example, one of my personal values is honesty, and my personal take on honesty includes transparency even when it's challenging. In the beginning, I was very protective of my company's financials, as I believe most entrepreneurs are. In time, I began to understand how my wanting to be protective of my finances was actually causing tension not just within me, but inside my organization. 

Furthermore, the desire to protect this information exacerbated the very real visceral tension I had due to another value, stewardship. Those two words, honesty, and stewardship can mean something different to everyone, in terms of what decisions they make each day and the alignment with how they want to show up. For me, being a good steward is coming from a place where I understand and respect that what I have is not mine, it does not belong to me. I am instead entrusted with its care, which means I operate with a perspective of duty and responsibility. Not for my benefit, but for the benefit of that which I have been entrusted with. 

Going back to honesty and transparency, I had to face a very real decision. Do I let go of my desire to keep my business financial information secretive? Or open it up for all to see at my company and by doing so, create a real connection to the work they were doing in terms of financial results? Most people could argue about how the manifestation of honesty should look when it comes to opening up the books. Do I have to be transparent with everyone? Some people? Only people that need to see them, like my bank? This is where the existence of more than one value comes into play.

Valuing both stewardship and honesty means I need to ask the right questions framed with both of these considerations in mind. Instead of asking with whom do I need to be transparent, I asked, how would a good steward demonstrate honesty and transparency around company financials? The answers to these two questions look nothing alike, and that's for a reason. One of these questions helps me eliminate the tension between what I believe and say/do, the other helps me be okay with rationalizing that tension. 

While there was a lot of training for my team on financial management, there was also a lot of uncomfortably for me, and there continues to be. I had to be okay with questions from others as to why I spent money on something and why that certain amount was spent. It feels odd, your employees asking you to justify how you are spending your company's money. However, in doing this, we created more alignment and overall transparency with my team. I eliminated tension that I had recognized in this area and could start showing up in a way that was aligned with being an honest steward of my company.