Return2Freedom

"WORLD CLASS CULTURE WITH CORE VALUES"

All major companies have a mission statement or set of guiding principles. Let’s call them ‘core values.’ These core values are used to communicate the purpose and vision of the company.
They act as a set of guidelines for employees to use when they make decisions on behalf of the company.

Before you train and coach someone to take your place, think of what values you would like your team to embrace within your company.

They are different from policies and procedures. Policies and procedures ensure safety, product quality, lawful operations, etc. Core values however, help your team make good decisions even if it means breaking a policy.

Let me give you an example, when I worked in NYC one of our policies was not to allow guests/customers in the storage room area or ‘backstage’ as it was called.

This policy provided safety and security for guests and the staff and to be honest, it wasn’t very ‘magical’ back there. The storage area had particle board shelves, stored products and hard floors with industrial lighting.

Our goal was to create magical moments for guests.* The storage room was not the kind of place for a magical moment. Still, when a mom came up to me and asked if her son could use the restroom, I had a choice to make.

I could stick to the policy and tell her, “I’m sorry we don’t have a public restroom,” and send her out on the street to look for one or I could align with our guiding principles and make a better decision by allowing the parent to take their child to the restroom.

To help give you some perspective, this was one of the statements in the company mission:

“We are dedicated to exceeding our guest’s expectations by providing an authentic Disney retail experience through excellence in service, product, and show.”
~ excerpt from The Disney Store Inc. Mission Statement 1998

At that moment, the guest’s expectation was clear. She needed a restroom for her child. The policy said otherwise, but I knew it was more important to break the policy this time, follow the mission, and allow them in the back room area.

I explained to the parent how the storage room wasn’t as ‘magical’ as the front, but I would be happy to es**rt them to the restroom and back.

I followed up with some color pages for the child and exclaimed, “I was happy they could visit the secret room just this once.”

Of course, the parent and the child were happy and I did my best to stay true to the guidelines of our mission statement.

Looking back on this experience, I realize how important it was for the company to provide me with a mission in order to make wise decisions.

Excerpt from: "Go Home - Replace Yourself"
Author: Michelle Edwards
www.return2freedom.com

Go Home - Replace Yourself!: How to Coach a Leader to Run Your Business so you can Live Your Dream. If you are the day-to-day ‘go to’ person or the only one who can make decisions for your business, it’s time to set yourself free and go home. In working with successful companies, I’ve learned you can’t run a business on your own. You need people who are good a...

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