At a recent company meeting, we shared and discussed our short- and long-term goals, our vision and mission. It’s so important to make sure everyone knows where we are going as a company. There are hundreds of business books out there and all the good ones reiterate the importance of making sure everyone knows which way the ship (the company) is headed and what role they play in getting there. To that, I will add one thing – we want to give people the opportunity to disembark with respect if they decide the destination is not something they can embrace. Being part of the outcome is just one of our core values. We are in the continuing education management business, are in a growth mode and enjoy spelling things :). So, it’s not surprising that our core values spell the word GROWTH:
Get it done
Respect everyone
Own the outcome
Work hard and play hard (aka balance your life)
Trust and be trusted
Help others
This acronym was designed to help our team members understand how we make decisions. If there is a conflict, it’s likely due to a mismatch with our core values. Someone asked me to explain how our core values impact our clients. What a great question! Many of us know the answer intuitively but when asked to explain it – to write it down – I had to do some thinking.
What I’d like our clients to know is that when we say we are going to deliver, we deliver. And, if we make a mistake, we own it and communicate early and often with a “what we’ve learned to prevent or improve this in the future” approach instead of excuses. We are at our best when we are well-rested and fresh. We ask and greatly appreciate constructive criticism. When clients take the time to let us know how they define success we are better prepared to measure the same objectives. We are energized when our clients share their compliments and we want to hear their ideas and suggestions. We want to help you help others.
We use our core values as the sieve through which we make decisions, identify prospective new team members, and coach and develop our people. As an ISTS partner, we want you to feel the same unique, intense focus on being aligned. I believe that the more we share our goals and values with you, the more likely you will be to share your thoughts with us, which is exactly what we need to continue growing and improving.
– Becky Sharpe, CEO
