Today my final workshop of the week in Dublin for a group of 7 independent orthodontic practices.

That’s 3 workshops and 1 team training day in 4 consecutive days – plenty of steps on my Garmin, a somewhat deeper voice than I had on Monday and a lot of people met and engaged with.

During all of these gatherings and given that many of those present are starting a new year of business coaching, we have spoken a lot about “values”; about why we do the thing we do.

Here are some words and phrases that have stood out for me as the days have unfolded:

CONFIDENCE

Essentially, what we all do for a living is to deliver confidence to our clients/patients.

In my case that may be confidence in the future of a business or in a career pathway. In your case, confidence that pain will vanish quickly, function will be restored, health will be maintained and beauty enhanced.

If our clients/patients are confident, they will tell their friends; if our teams are confident, they will do their best work.

RESPECT

When we show respect and appreciation for those around us – our suppliers, our colleagues, our clients/patients and even our competition – we create a world in which it’s a pleasure to show up.

ALIGNMENT

We are unable to “fake it” and work consistently for an organisation that either has different values (short-term shareholder compensation as opposed to long-term patient/team welfare) or no values.

When we able to align our personal values with those of the place that we work, we are in integrity and it is in that way that teams will rally around the flag and support a future vision.

CONSISTENCY

When we have systems that ensure that we do the same thing, on time, in the same way, every time, we (once more) generate confidence in the minds of our team members, clients and patients.

RESPONSIBILITY

I mentioned this in yesterday’s post – the three pillars of Corporate Social Responsibility – Charity : Community : Environment.

When we act responsibly, we become the mentor, the guide and the leader.

One could argue that all of these values can be collectively described as your CULTURE.

Back to Lush Cosmetics and their “we believe” statement – it wouldn’t be a bad mantra if we could start each day committed to:

• Deliver confidence;
• Show respect
• Seek alignment
• Ensure consistency
• Act responsibly