5 Make or break reasons to know your business values

The results are in for research related to personal and business values, and it’s striking:  while most people believe they live by their values, few people have actually identified their personal or business values.  If you have, GREAT JOB!  You are ahead of the curve.  If not, I hope this will serve as a friendly nudge to move you forward in that direction.  Why are knowing your business values so important?  I’m so glad you asked! Hiring Culture Employee Recognition/Retention/Recruitment Marketing Decision making The Interview Process Note that hiring is first on the list to ensure that you build a values-based business. Most often we are looking to hire a certain skill level, and while skill is definitely important, what about values?  In our business we want people who are a good fit for our culture. Knowing your business values gives you an opportunity to be listening for key words and feelings in an interview. Incorporating your values into the interview process allows you to create scenarios that will elicit a response to indicate whether a person fits your values system or doesn’t. Just to be clear, when I am talking about values, I’m not talking about religion or social ideals like honesty, integrity, and trust.  For instance, although faith is one of my highest personal values, there are people of all beliefs (or non-beliefs) who fit in with our company values of: Servant Leadership   Stewardship Respect Learning Giving Back Fun Eye Opener! Recently, I sat down with a business owner and one of his staff members.  While using the DISC behavioral styles assessment, I asked a couple of questions to also elicit answers that would give him an idea of her behavioral styles and values.  By the end of the conversation it became apparent that this staff member was not operating within the same value system of the business owner or his business.  Within a week of that conversation she put in her two-week notice. I believe that in the long run his staff, his clients, and his business will all be better off with this change. That said, maybe this could have been avoided if when he first interviewed, he had incorporated his values into the hiring process. But I’m Desperate! Desperation to fill a position is never a good reason to hire. Keeping people because you don’t have a replacement could be a cancer that eats away at your staff and ultimately your business. I advocate bringing key staff members into interviews; after all, they are the ones who are going to have to work with the new hire!  It also gives you and your staff the chance to listen for the values that make your business unique.  In the long run finding the right people for your business that match your organization’s values will save you valuable time, money, and the respect of your current staff. Looking forward to your success in LIFE and Business. Lisa

Living a VALUABLE life.

As I walked through a park in Prague holding the hand of my daughter, I was struck by joy.  It's a feeling...actually more of a realization, a realization that at that moment many of my values were lining up. When that happens.....joy ensues.

My husband Dave was suffering from a bad back so, he was buzzing around on a scooter in front of us, creating skid marks as if he was on a mountain bike. The sun was shining, the swans and ducks were playing in the ponds around us.  Families were walking, feeding ducks or just sitting on benches.  Mmmm.....Joy.

It seems so simple, and it is.  I know what brings me joy now and I try and make a point of putting myself in a situation to experience it as often as possible. Many of my values can bring me joy.

Faith
Family
Nature

Learning
Adventure
Connection
Fairness
Acknowledgment
Stewardship
Servant Leadership


I feel closer to God when I am in nature.  It is like I am participating in one of His great pieces of art. It's almost as if I am walking through a painting like the characters in Mary Poppins do. I am learning new things when I am seeing something for the first time, and traveling is ALWAYS an adventure.  Before my daughter moved to Europe, we used to walk arm in arm or hand in hand through parking lots, Walmart or where ever.  When I have an opportunity now to connect with her, laugh with her, explore new things with her, I am fulfilling the values of family, connection, and adventure.

Sitting in the middle of Old Town Square in Prague drinking a latte with my husband brings me joy. Hiking up to the top of a castle and overlooking the city, walking through the park behind my daughter's school where peacocks roam, having dinner with her lovely friends, walking arm in arm with our French and Slovak daughters, watching the three girls laugh together, this all brings me joy.

I don't always have to travel to fulfill my values. Honestly, I have a hard time leaving every time I do.  My staff, friends, family, dogs, and communities bring me joy.  I love watching how God is working in the lives of people I care about. I feel so connected to our staff that when they are struggling, I hurt. When they are thriving, growing and experiencing joy, I experience joy.  I get to use our business as a vehicle (no pun intended) to help and acknowledge deserving people and organizations. In my role as a coach, I get to connect, encourage, and acknowledge my clients as well as learn from them and pray with them.

When my oldest son utilizes his creativity to create a yummy mouth water dish, that brings me joy. When I attend a show my youngest son is singing in, that brings me joy. My dog, well, that verges on obsession. From the day he came into our lives, he has brought us so much joy.  Our communities lift my spirits. There are so many people who serve others, by giving of their time, talent and treasures. And to top it all off, we live in an absolutely beautiful place.

Don't get me wrong, life is far from perfect.  There are days, even weeks that I have to consciously search for joy.  However, I KNOW I can turn things around because I have identified what is most important in my life and have chosen to base my time, my work and my life in search of fulfilling my values.

#values #vision #joy

Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

 

 It has been a year, almost to the minute as I write this that I found out my mother left this earth. I thought I could prepare myself to lose her, after all, she was 81 years old.  I thought I could avoid that deep, deep sorrow. by telling myself it was inevitable.  I was wrong. 

 The next day, I sat on that same bathroom floor where she died and cried so hard, I thought I would never stop.  I picked up her clothes and slippers and cradled them.  I tried to smell her, feel her, anything to bring her back to me.  The tears and uncontrollable sobbing made it hard to breath.  I cried out to God, to make the pain stop, but it felt like He was not there, like I was all alone and this pain would never end.  My mother was not a believer, my brothers are atheists, and I felt like I was in a cold Godless box that I would have to climb out on my own. 

 As the executor of the estate, I had a lot of work to do over this past year.  The hardest part of my duties, was selling our childhood home. So many memories wrapped with my kids, parents, brothers, nieces, cousins and friends in that home.  The day I left the house for the last time, I walked through each room and wrote down memories that occurred in them.  I sat on the living room floor where my moms favorite chair used to sit and talked to her.  Part of me never wanted to leave that house,  and part couldn't wait to get out of there.  

 I drove off the Island and headed home,  I got about 30 minutes away when the devastating wave of grief hit me again.  Grief of losing my mother, my childhood home.  Grief that just 3 days before my mother passed another family member took his own life.  Grief that I could not be there for his wife and kids like I had promised.  It was like waves crashing down on me.  I would come up for air, only to have them hit me again and again.  I was crying out to God to please help me. "I am drowning, where are you?"  I felt like the waves of pain and grief would never stop.  I turned on the radio and hit "seek".   The song that came on was on AIR1 ( a christian radio station) and the lyrics were about waves crashing down and how God is there to pull us out of the ocean.  I Immediately felt His presence. Although I still had pain, I also had a sense of peace.  I knew this was God letting me know he was indeed there to help me through this.  He never left me. "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”  Deuteronomy 31:8

You might be wondering why I am sharing this very personal story of grief and loss. I believe God wants me to.  "What he brings us through, he makes us a minister to." Perry Atkinson.   I believe he wants you to know, that HE is always there.  Sometimes, we just need to slow down and seek Him.  1 Chronicles 16:11

"Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually".

 I also want you to know, that grief and sorrow as painful as they are, can be a VERY necessary part of healing. I am a (recovering) control freak,who used to stuff my feelings deep down in fear of actually feeling them, I feared I might not recover if I did.

Even though they are almost always unexpected and inconvenient, I have learned to let the pain and tears flow when they come  I have learned that by allowing myself to feel the pain, I am also allowing myself the opportunity to feel great joy.  
Psalm 30:5  " weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."  

I have also allowed myself to see the blessings.  While dealing with the estate, I started attending a local church and became friends with the pastors wife.  I spent more time with childhood friends and reconnected with people I had not seen in years.  After the sale of mom and dads home, I was able to bless many of the non profits I care so deeply about. I believe there is always a blessing in every hardship.  

On the other side of grief for me is gratitude.  "How lucky am I to have had something that makes saying goodbye so hard. :  Winnie the Pooh.  

So now, as I again feel the wave of loss, I also rejoice in the blessings that have resulted and look forward to the joy that is to come. 

Combating Human Sex Trafficking one person, one school, city and country at a time.

#3 of ‪#‎52shoutouts‬.

This week I would like to highlight Caleb LaPlante. Caleb is a Realtor at the local John L. Scott office in Grants Pass. He is also in my Rotary Club.

Caleb has spent countless hours volunteering to STOP human trafficking. As the (Volunteer) Outreach Coordinator with ACT Southern Oregonhttps://actsouthernoregon.com/ he partnered with Rebecca Bender Ministries to bring prevention education to local schools.

During his first year as a Rotarian, Caleb brought 4 local clubs together and applied for a Rotary District Grant to bring the More Than A Survivor Exhibithttp://mtas-roguevalley.com/ to Southern Oregon and our Rotary District Conference in Bend.

Caleb is now working on a Global Rotary Grant to Combat Sex Trafficking in the Philippines called the Manila Project. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/…/Combating%20Sex%20Traff…

This all started a few years ago when Caleb saw a news story about a local girl that was trafficked and wanted to do something about it. How often have I seen something in the news and been moved, upset and saddened, but left it at that? I have prayed for people, even donated money, but Caleb is taking something that upset him, and is moving forward to make a significant difference in this world.

I am so proud of you my friend. I am honored to know you. Thank you for being HIS hands and feet here on earth. #52shoutouts

The Cheap Seats

I am currently listening to Brene' Browns latest book "Rising Strong".  In all of her books she references the "Man in the Arena" quote from Theodore Roosevelt.  This has become one of my very favorite quotes.


“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

This  is a great example of those who take the risk of doing what they believe is right, following their values and going after their dreams. They do so risking criticism and failure.

How do they do it?  I have heard people say: "I don't care what other people think." or "I wish I did not care what other people think about me."

I've always felt like the first statement was untrue.  How could anyone who is not a narcissist really not care what others think?  The second statement is something I myself have momentarily thought.  The reality however, is that I will always care what others think of me.  My number two value is connection.  For me to feel that connection, I will have empathy and I will care what others think of me.  How do I do that without curling up in a ball in the corner?  The answer is found in this quote from Brene's book "Rising Strongly".

"A lot of cheap seats in the arena are filled with people who never venture out onto the floor.  They just hurl mean spirited criticisms and put downs from a very safe distance.  The problem is, when we stop caring what people think, and stop feeling hurt by cruelty, we lose our ability to connect.  But, when we are defined by what people think, we lose the courage to be vulnerable.  Therefore, we need to be selective about the feedback we let into our lives. "

Brene' Brown

Where do you need to be more selective about what you are letting in?

What values are you compromising because of feedback that you are letting influence you?

What could you accomplish if you lived in a way that allowed for courage, connection and vulnerability?

And the big question I think we should all (including myself) be asking... When are we sitting in the cheap seats judging others?

I value connection!

I have been so very busy with business and family stuff in the last six weeks that I have neglected one of my top values....connection.

Knowing that connection is so high on my list of values, I try and schedule time with people I care about and enjoy. Family emergencies and scheduling issues the last six weeks have made that very difficult. 

I was starting to feel disconnected and even a little depressed. Something was missing, and I just couldn't put my finger on it. I teach this stuff and NOW I am a living example of just how important knowing and living a life based on values really is.

No matter how busy I get, no matter what life throws at me, I need to try my hardest to incorporate my top values into my life. I spent five of the last six weeks pouring out of my proverbial cup over and over again. I, we all need to replenish our cup or we are just not able to give our best to those around us.

Lucky for me, in the last three days I was able to spend a long day with a friend, have breakfast with another and then lunch with yet another. My energy has increased, my attitude is better and I am starting to get back to my happy, positive, normal (normal is a relative term) self.

What are the must have values you need in your life?

When you feel like something is missing, do you know why?

When are you at your best?

Knowing the answers to these questions can shed some light on your true values. Knowing your true values can help you to start living a more fulfilling life on purpose!

GO GO GO!......No wait....Slow Down.

After two days of lying around sick, I wake up on Monday morning with more energy and the promise of a beautiful sunny day. My first instinct is to make lists of everything that needs to get done today, which would also include everything I did not get done over the weekend due to illness. 

Then, that small voice of self awareness perks up and says "In the past, you have made yourself sick again by over doing it. Is that really a good choice?" 

The internal battle begins between my value of accomplishment and the reality of what I can really accomplish. I LOVE to get things done in a timely manner and just be done with it. Which for someone diagnosed with ADD is difficult at best and rarely happens. When it does happen, it feels great! I feel empowered. There are times however, when I can take that value too far. Like using the limited energy I have just recouped to try and accomplish too much in a short amount of time. 

Knowing my value of accomplishment and my own history with it, good and bad, is helping me in the moment to make a conscious decision on how I want to spend my day. 

Our values are often seen as strengths...as well they should be. AND being conscious of what and how we use those values can be a HUGE benefit as well. 

Today, I am going to promise NOT to over do it.  Which for me, IS an accomplishment!