By Karen Hughes, CLC CEO/Partner
Will your company culture be part of your legacy?
The founder of Community Link Consulting, Joel Hughes, is someone many of you may know. In fact, you may recognize a resemblance in the attached picture (taken in about 1918) -- the man in the left of the photo is Joel’s great grandfather and the man on the far right is his grandfather. He owned the Hughes Laundry Company in north Idaho. When I came across this photo it was proudly displayed in his mother's home. I found this visual representation of culture very compelling.
More than fun events - What strikes me about this picture is not only the fact that they're enjoying a fun company event eating watermelon together, but the fact that they memorialized the moment with a photo. There is a twinkle in the leader’s eye and a sense of joy in this photo that makes me think of our culture here at CLC (Community Link Consulting). As an example, two of our seven core values are “respect” and “give more than you get”. They all are clearly taking time away from their daily routine to enjoy not only watermelon, but more importantly, one another. Culture is based not only on the fun activities that punctuate the year but also the pervading values that are within the company.
Name your values - Three years ago, at Community Link, we put names to the core values that we've been living by for over the 20 years that we've been in business. These named values are respect, leadership, flexibility, curiosity, solution focused, give more than you get and subject matter experts extraordinaire. These guide our client relationships, our hirings and evaluations, and our daily interactions with one another. What an interesting conversation it would have been to meet Joel’s grandfather and ask about the core values in his business. I like to think that some of his values have been passed down to the business we have today, as a legacy to future generations. In fact, your business culture becomes difficult to change once established.
Share the culture - As you look around your company or your agency, what are those core values that you're living by? Do you have names for those values? Can you say that those are lived in your organization daily? What a great legacy to leave your agency for the future. The individuals who look back at their time at your agency, and those patients that you serve, will feel that intangible benefit of those values and perhaps perpetuate them beyond your organization. We hope our culture at Community Link has positively impacted those we’ve touched. If you would like to have a discussion on how to name or share core values throughout your organization, please contact karenh@communitylinkconsulting.com