How can you help a team identify their core values during a period of transition?

Every organisation have it's Core Values! For any team of an individual to be successful, It's important to have their core values rooted in organisations core values. Hence for me the 1st step is to understand if there is clarity and appreciation within the team on the Core Value of the enterprise. Then all the above steps of understanding their challenges, expectations, gap analysis etc can be initiated with all conversation rooted in the organisation's core values!

This is great BUT, In reality you need to understand your own vision and values if you are leading the team. Not understanding where you are is not only going to make navigating anywhere very challenging but also misses the point of understanding your own biases. These affect everyone and everything, and why for the most part leaders crash or get lost. They never understood where they were and probably had a somewhat fixed mindset. So do this work on yourself first then have the individuals do the same and then do this exercise as a team.

Great quote from the movie "Remember The Titans" - "Performance is a direct reflection of leadership" Doesn't remove the onus on sales professionals to deliver/produce results. Always performed better when I was following a leader who walks their talk. If they are unwilling to do the work, usually an indicator of things to come.

In times of transition, it's important to talk openly. Start conversations in your team about the important ideas that guide your work. Ask everyone to share their personal values, then find the common themes. Together, turn these ideas into a shortlist of key values that everyone agrees with. By working together, you make sure everyone feels a part of it. This helps you build a strong base for facing challenges together during the changes.

One thing I have always done is to review the current state against the desired state, and layout the road map to achieve this desired outcome. This is not something done overnight but more of culture build that will help with sustaining the desire state.

An example of identifying where your vision is for your future state would be is having the team simply write down positives and opportunities they currently see and then set up action plan to move the opportunities. The action plan can be utilized to help set what the vision and mission is. Being able to visualize where you want to be by reflecting on where you are is the place you should be when creating a team vision and mission.

Again do this exercise yourself first to please. So many leaders are unaware of their own personal mental models or the effects they may have on the team. Now with this knowledge you can begin to understand your team as they understand you and themselves as a team.

As a leader, it's essential to lead not just in actions but also in thought, intention, and ambition. Inspire your team with your own core values and your vision for the group. Encourage them to contribute to this vision by adding to your list of values, creating a collaborative environment. While you steer the team towards its objectives ('driving the car'), empower them to have a say in the journey ('picking the radio station'). This approach ensures that leadership is not just about direction but also about encouraging a shared sense of ownership and participation.

If you and your team are the least bit wobbly on the organization’s core values, anything will be more difficult than it should be. This includes but is definitely not limited to a transition. Exploring your core values is a deep and highly integrative process. It’s a gut check. It is an opening of hearts and minds into what matters most, what deeply rooted beliefs drive you, and what will never change no matter the circumstances. This is spiritual journey of sorts. It requires presence and willingness to suspend and emerge. It requires great authenticity and calls on everyone to go deeper than almost anything else will call you to do. Done properly, it will galvanize teams in new ways. It will open new doors. It will render you resilient!

Well without sounding repetitive, do this work on you first then work with your team. Using a tool such as MBTI would also offer some objectivity and flexibility in language as these critical things are discussed. You are now digging into some more personal information and some people may start to get nervous about being open and group think can start to sneak in. Using a tool such as MBTI offers a new language and lens.

Identifying core values in a transitioning team is vital for unity and effective decision-making. Open discussions, reflecting on successes, and aligning with organizational goals refine potential values. Prioritizing and refining the list collaboratively ensures resonance. Regular reviews adapt values to evolving circumstances. This ongoing process, embraced by the entire team, fosters a culture rooted in shared values, enhancing resilience during transitions.

Core values are essential - Such as with my teams the core values are: - Trust - Respect - Love Once you have the trust, then respect comes much easier, and when you have trust and respect, the love is simple.

Again if you choose to use a tool such as MBTI it will offer many benefits in use of subjective and objective viewpoints and this is very much part of being human and in essence a pitfall for many teams when they choose to ignore their own perspective and what is his means.

We have found that personal Core Values operate in three directions. From others To others To ourselves There can be a huge discrepancy of what people require from others in regards to having their value fulfilled and what they are able to give to themselves. For example if a person identifies a value of needing to be accepted by others. They may score this at 9 out of 10 However , giving this value to themselves they score it 2 or 3 out of 10. They are asking others to fullfill their value that they are unable to fufill themselves putting an impossible task on others which is deemed to fail.

You know it, without a tool box like MBTI or similar maybe DiSC, you are going to have a hard time opening the difficult windows of opportunity as these are going to be the quiet people that may hold your answers but not feel confident or comfortable opening up. So sharing as individuals and as a team using the language of a tool or lens offers opportunity for feeling better about vulnerability, which you will need to understand if you are to succeed in the long term.

Reinforcing core values during and after a transition involves strategic integration. Embed values into daily practices, emphasizing their role in decision-making and interactions. Communicate regularly in meetings and updates to keep values prominent. Recognize and celebrate instances of value embodiment, fostering positive reinforcement. Establish mentorship for mutual accountability and conduct training sessions with real-world examples illustrating values in action. Leadership plays a vital role; leaders should model values and tie them to performance evaluations. Use feedback to adapt and refine values, ensuring ongoing relevance. At times, revisit values in team-building activities, fostering a resilient and values-driven culture.

Oftentimes, if you give people what they want, they may discover that they actually didn't want it. There may be team members holding resentment or who have had bad experiences with management in the past, and this resentment could be obscuring the path between their current situation and their goal. It is important to let people express themselves and provide them with a safe space to explore their own emotional journey, allowing their emotions to run their course to completion and resolution. Sometimes, this individual attention is required to elevate the overall health of the team and get everyone on board with genuine buy-in.

Tony Robbins talks about the 6 needs of a human. Those being: 1. Certainty: assurance you can avoid pain and gain pleasure 2. Uncertainty/Variety: the need for the unknown, change, new stimuli 3. Significance: feeling unique, important, special or needed 4. Connection/Love: a strong feeling of closeness or union with someone or something 5. Growth: an expansion of capacity, capability or understanding 6. Contribution: a sense of service and focus on helping, giving to and supporting others Questions to ask that help us understand these needs and which ones are our 1-2 biggest needs are thus: What do you do for work? How long have you worked there? What do you love about it? What don't you like about it? What would you change?

1. Start from which behaviors observed today are counterproductive to the new goals and strategy. STOP doing 2. Identify which existing behaviors support the new goals and strategy CONTINUE 3. Identify the few mission critical new behaviors we need to learn to do routinely START All this can be then tracked back into supporting beliefs and values alongside with changes into the performance and work management processes and practices

Foster transparent communication and collective reflection, so the team can distill and articulate their core values, providing a foundation for navigating the transition with shared purpose.

The best example is from a great leader I truly respect- - Get the right people on the bus - Get those people in the right seats - Get the ones off that don't belong or desire to be on the bus. Once you have this- the core foundation is built and success will come as the people on the bus are all working towards the same goal.

I have found working with teams since 2007 that what a person values is remarkably different to what are their personal values. Defining this is an interesting conversation in building team values and improving workplace functionality. Values are defined through behaviours and values drive behaviours. Many consistently indicate that they can't seem to identify their personal values. Through our 'Values Aproach to Business' which focuses on a person's behaviour in a team we are able to unlock each staff members core values that drive emotional responses especially when those values are breach. Connecting the conscious mind and subconscious behaviours driven by hidden personal values is a remarkable experience.