064: I Found My TRUE NORTH Values and It Changed Everything!

Have you ever wondered what makes truly great teams function so seamlessly? The secret might be simpler than you think: shared values that everyone genuinely believes in.

When Mark set out to establish core values for his company, he initially approached it as a solo exercise. "I have to come up with what I believe my core values are," he explains, reflecting on his early leadership journey. But the magic happened when he opened up this process to his entire team. Suddenly, these weren't just Mark's values—they became the team's collective compass, something everyone had a stake in upholding.

The surprising revelation came when "communication" emerged as a core value the team prioritized, catching Mark off guard. This sparked important self-reflection: "Is it because I don't communicate enough? Do they feel like there's not enough transparency?" This vulnerable moment highlights how collaborative value-setting creates opportunities for growth that top-down approaches often miss. Other values like integrity, teamwork, accountability, and continuous improvement rounded out their foundation, creating a framework that guides both internal interactions and client relationships.

What happens after establishing these values? The conversation explores how Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) transform abstract values into measurable actions. As Mark beautifully puts it, "by having the team help with the core values, it's much easier to get them in the boat rowing with me as a team and not rowing in a different direction." This rowing analogy perfectly captures the essence of values-based leadership—when everyone understands and believes in the destination, they naturally align their efforts without constant management. Listen now to discover how defining your core values might be the most important team exercise you'll ever undertake.

Chapters

• 0:00 Developing Personal Core Values
• 1:07 Communication As A Surprising Core Value
• 4:03 Continuous Improvement And What Comes Next
• 6:44 Aligning Team Through Shared Values
• 10:25 The Rowing Team Analogy
• 12:44 Evolution Of Core Values Over Time

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

really evaluate another, another person. I have to. I have to come up with what, what I believe my core values are, um, so that makes this a little different. I didn't, I didn't build these with with a team. It was things that I came up with on my own, um, and then I I thought, you know, that's really the only way that I can I judge another person but evaluate another person. And if they fall outside of one of those core values, it's easy to say that if you're going to be part of the Integra MSP way is what I've decided to call it If you're not learning, then that's going to be an issue and it's not necessarily going to get you exited from the company, but it's something that we just it's going to impact the performance of others.

Speaker 2: 1:04

Having integrity obviously builds that trust from the client side by us having integrity right. So by having integrity, our clients will be more trusting of us and that being important. So it's very cool to hear kind of that definition from the team. It's like hey, what does this mean? Now, obviously I wasn't forcing everyone to say what each thing means, right, but those that wanted to offer up their opinion on that, right, hey, let's hear it. And um, and some were, you know, would wait. Just oh, I want to talk about this when we get there.

Speaker 2: 1:36

Okay, we'll get there, um so here's the one that really shocked me the most and and maybe it shouldn't have, but it did, which is a little bit of reflection of myself maybe Communication, communication was a core value that was selected. I can tell you that I did not vote for communication, but I see it's important, communication, so then I instantly go well, geez, is it because I don't communicate enough? Do they feel like there's not enough transparency?

Speaker 1: 2:06

You know that they're not informed. What are they saying about me? You know like what am I doing?

Speaker 2: 2:10

wrong yeah yeah. So that's what I said. How do I say this is important? So let's look at this, because I want to make sure we understand what that means and address it, because if that's that important to you, then it's important to me, right? So? And I so my notes are necessarily, like always the best, as I'm trying to scribble things down, but you know part of this was saying that it helps an understanding in what to do next communication, right, um, that I got to read my writing.

Speaker 2: 2:44

That both internal and tech, external, so both internal, facing for team members and team for the team, and external to the client, that they feel it helps with transparency, which then supports some of the other core values. Right, that integrity, right, and I'm like, sure, obviously there's a right time and right place for some of those communications, right, um, yes, but, uh, no, but, and and and want to be misadjusted. That about, um, listening to some ted talks, because ted talks are structured a very specific way for communication and delivery. I'm like I will take note of it. Looks like I need to watch some TED Talks just to see that reference.

Speaker 1: 3:28

Yeah, I've watched some TED Talks but I have never watched them to dissect their structure and how they're giving the talk.

Speaker 2: 3:38

Well, you've got one up on me. I don't think I've ever watched a full TED Talk. Oh really no. I mean, I know there's some good stuff there.

Speaker 1: 3:46

Yeah, yeah, they're. They're really good and some of them are not, but but usually because it doesn't interest me at all and I'm like I thought it would, but it doesn't. But no, I do enjoy them though. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 3:58

And our last and final one, kind of once again, I think falls in line with yours, and that was continuous improvement. Yeah, and this is real short, everything can be improved, everyone can be improved, everyone can be better. There's always room for improvement. We talk about that. You know that 1% a day, that compounding and the value of that. So there's always room for improvement. I'm trying to improve myself right On many different levels. So, yeah, that's what we determined. So, now that we have these core values great, we established core values. Now what's next? Right Right now, what?

Speaker 1: 4:41

Now what.

Speaker 2: 4:42

So I do find that these words being used a lot in communication. Yes, right, and now that we're in teams and we're talking, these words get thrown all around a lot more because now we've established those, so we're referencing them quite frequently. So the next phase for us is okay, great. Now we define what our values are as a team not Mark's values, right, but as a team. For the organization, then it would be. Now we start working on who we are and what that means and where we're going. Okay as a team. And that reflects back to the conversation we're talking about outside of this. Was okrs right?

Speaker 1: 5:27

yes, and in using those objective and key results.

Speaker 2: 5:34

Objectives and key results um, so, as a team, we're meeting to define those. This isn't, once again, mark establishing goals. Um, this, we're establishing team objectives, which is the path that we are going to take, and then those key results, to know that we're on the right path.

Speaker 1: 6:00

Yeah, Wouldn't you think, or at least I would think, that key results are to have good communication, to be trustworthy, have integrity and to have all of your core values would be key results to your objective, which is running a tier one team a tier one team, yeah, at a very yeah, I would say things, so I'd be especially at a, at a high level, right, like as a high level, as a, as a whole, as an organization, a hundred percent.

Speaker 1: 6:32

Cause I'm still trying to learn the okay Okay. So I'm just kind of trying to put it together with the core values and right here, you know, we have medical focus. Oh man, you actually bought the paper and we have measure what matters, right, measure what matters.

Speaker 2: 6:46

That's right, I also got this in an audio book.

Speaker 1: 6:49

That's what I did. I did the audio book too, but I'm serious, it's like I'm still trying to learn it. So it's like, but you know, you creating the core values. I mean, at the end of the day, it's real easy to know. At least I created them and I believe we created them. That way we could build the best team that we wanted to build based on these words, to build based on these words and if, at any point, something starts to happen, we can look at these words and actually interrogate whatever's happening, are we having, are we all working together as a team? Is everyone being accountable? Are we working with integrity?

Speaker 2: 7:45

And then then, if some, all of a sudden, we realize, you know what, yeah, somebody lost trust in someone else and that's going to affect the main objective, um, which is having a top-notch team and if I might have said it, but that too, by having the team help with the core values, it's much easier to get them in the boat rowing with me as a rowing team and not rowing in a different direction. I'm not dragging them to Mark's core values. We've established what's important to them and it'll be much easier to uphold those core values and as we continue to grow and bring new individuals on board, if they don't meet not only individuals to work with our team, but also from the client aspect, if they don't align with our core values, they're not a good fit for us. Now we've got these, we've got these key things right that we're looking for and they don't align with we're not meant to be.

Speaker 1: 8:47

Yeah, I, you know it's, it's, it's. It's so cool because, um, I'm going to go back to another analogy, Sorry. Go for it, go for it. Um a few years back I I joined a rowing group um cause I hurt my. I'm a runner for those to do something else, so I thought I like the rowing machine at the gym. How hard could rowing on a lake be? It's actually quite difficult because you don't think of the fact that you have to balance in a boat, because if you don't balance, you fall in the water.

Speaker 2: 9:20

Oh no.

Speaker 1: 9:23

But I think that and it's called sculling. So I was on a boat when they put us in a boat of four people and everyone has to be accountable. You have to trust each other and it has to be, it must be teamwork, because all you need is one person to hit the water. They call the oar a scull, but all you need is one person to hit the water. They call the the or a skull, but all you need is one person to hit the water, just just the wrong way and everybody's going down, oh so you have to trust everyone.

Speaker 1: 9:57

You have to the, the, the. You have to trust the person that's behind you, the person that's in front of you, to do what they're supposed to do. Um, so, yeah, it's it. And the thing is, there's there, it's not just you running that ship, everybody is a part of that ship and they're all rowing together. Um, and they all own the destination too. Right, it's it's. They're in control of the destination, they're owning it and at the end, when they finally finish whether it be a day, a week, a year, whatever it is they know that they ran that ship and they had something to do with it. And if somebody's not doing something right, they don't have to wait on you or someone else to go. Gosh, I wish Mark would fix this problem that's going on, it's like no.

Speaker 2: 10:54

You'd well, instantaneous, you would know that there's that problem and it's got to be addressed on the spot, right? I mean, if you make a mistake, it's quite obvious. Wow, exactly, I couldn't. Obviously I've never experienced such a thing. I couldn't. Uh, obviously I've never experienced such a thing.

Speaker 1: 11:17

I mean, I barely can handle a canoe, um, or a single person kayak, right, but uh, I would totally do it. It's, it's, it's really quite fun and it is quite the workout. Um, it's, it's, it is a lot of fun, but you will get wet. So don't, if you don don't, if you don't want to fall into a pretty dirty lake, um, it might not be for you, it might not be for you. Yeah, yeah, but that's the deterrent right.

Speaker 2: 11:37

It's like I'm gonna do everything right oh gosh, oh yeah, no doubt very cool. Um, just think where we're going here with this. So the core values Now your core values. Since you've established those over time, have those shifted much, or you've stuck to those same core values from the beginning?

Speaker 1: 12:04

So it's interesting they have shifted a little. The ones that shifted were discipline and ownership, even though they're somewhat similar, but the core values were created in 2021.

Speaker 1: 12:20

Oh recently it's very recent when I started to realize that when I started hiring people which and then I started doing I started hiring people long before 2021, but it wasn't on the same level that it was starting in 2020 or 2019. And when I did employee evaluations, it was just like using someone else's template or something like that, and one of the things that I realized was that, in order for me to really evaluate another person, I have to come up with what I believe my core values are. So that makes this a little different. I didn't build these with a team. It was things that I came up with on my own. It was things that I came up with on my own and then I thought you know, that MSP way is what I've decided to call it.

Speaker 1: 13:53

If you're not learning, then that's going to be an issue. It's not necessarily going to get you exited from the it's. It's going to impact the performance of others and we're going to try to promote that and we're going to try to push you for it and, honestly, you you may want to leave at the end of the day if you don't like. I'm using learning because that's the. That's kind of the. That's one that some people I find could be complacent, could get complacent in a position, but if they don't want to have that as part of one of their core values in themselves, then it's probably going to be hard for them to want to stay with our company.

Speaker 2: 14:46

Hi, I'm Mark Thomas, founder and CEO of Current Tech Solutions and CyberGuardians. We know business owners like you want to focus on growing your company, not worrying about IT problems or security threats. That's where we come in. Our team uses AI to protect your business from cyber risks and keep everything running smoothly. If you're ready for peace of mind and a stronger future, no-transcript.