Values

As a business we are always trying to match our customer’s needs with our product or services. Matching needs is also applicable when we are working on our business values. It is important to understand what our individual needs are from the business and what the business needs from us to make both of us successful.

We should be mindful that when these needs match, we are more likely to be successful and not sending out conflicting messages. For example, if I have a personal need to write and work alone for long periods of time, but my business demands that I am in the public arena for a minimum of 16 hours a day, it doesn’t take much to see that failure is in the near future.

In the Bible, the account of the Exodus gives us a good example of matching needs. In the Ten Commandments, God provided a list of things he needs from his people and throughout history, people cry out to God with their needs from him. In our modern world, organizations try to present and demonstrate their needs in their values or value statement. They further expand on the values with their vision and mission statements. It occurs to me that the original values were presented in the Ten Commandments. Think about it. Values like honor, integrity, love, honesty, respect, discipline, dignity, and many others can be identified or at the very least, interpreted to match each of the Commandments.

What are your personal values and what are your business values? Do they match or at least align? Should they? What happens if they don’t?