Organizational values can be tricky to identify. You and your team likely value many things -- justice, quality, collaboration, innovation, etc. If you’re not careful, you’ll create a long list of values that sounds like the values of any organization.

That’s why we base our approach on the values identification model put forth in Pat Lencioni’s book, The Advantage. Lencioni’s model identifies four separate types of values:

Core – Only two-to-four inherent behavioral traits that are core and unique to your organization. It is hard to imagine compromising on these values.

Permission to Play – They are important to you, but most organizations like you would say the same thing. Integrity and honesty typically are “permission to play” values.

Aspirational – These things aren’t always true about your organization, but you want them to be. They don’t come naturally, so you have to work at them.

Accidental – Values that happen to us. They creep in but aren’t reflective of who you/want to be.

Your job is to identify your core values and not get distracted by the values in the other categories.

Here is a video from our strategic planning course, START, where I walk you through the model in more detail.

How to Create Your Core Values

Creating your core values is best done by a team and can take multiple conversations. We’ve come up with the following three-step process for your team to use.

Step 1: Begin With the End in Mind

Talk with your team about how you’ll use the values to guide your team’s behaviors and decisions. For example:

Discuss where your values will be posted (website, wall, etc.).
Determine when and how your team will discuss and review your values.
Share examples of how other organizations use their values.
Clarify how the values will be used in hiring and board recruitment.

Step 2: Brainstorm Some Values

Have your team brainstorm a list of possible values by answering these questions:

Think of those people in the organization that exemplify what is best about the organization. What are their core behaviors?
Think of those people that haven’t been a good fit for the organization. Think of their behaviors and then write down the opposite ones.

Step 3: Refine and Define

Review your list from Step 2 and group your responses in common categories. Identify one word or short phrase that best captures each category.
Review your categories and ask yourselves: Has this been a value of ours for a long time? Compared to other organizations that are like us, is this value somewhat unique?
Decide upon no more than four core values.
Create short descriptions of what the values mean to your organization.
Document the values on your organization’s strategic plan.
Note that your values may need to be revisited and refined over time, especially if your organization is new.

Example Core values

Below are some examples of values and their descriptions. Sometimes one word is used to describe a value and other times a short phrase is used. Either way works.

Transparency
We document and communicate our work to our team and key stakeholders.

Zeal
We value the passionate giving of our time and talents in whole-hearted service of others.

Make it Happen
We achieve ambitious goals without compromising our work/life balance.

Love Thy Neighbor
We strive to provide equal and respectful access to opportunities for our staff, volunteers, and those we serve.

I hope this process helps you and your team clarify and implement your core values. Be sure to share your comments and questions below.