Core Values: The beginning and the defining thing!

I have seen companies struggling define their values. They struggle because they do not know who these values are for and who has to live these values. How having values helps, what is the cost of maintaining and managing values, what are the consequences of having values defined and not lived.Simply put values are created, recognized, and reflected in everyday life. They are not special effects! They are not oath, they are not passive artifacts. They remind us subtly when we ignore them. 
We also find it hard to understand whether values are “what we do”, “What we believe we do”, “Are they personal values, work values, delivery values, client values, employee values, community values? Not sure how many values? Are they promises? Are they commitments? They are all but “Core Values” are very few and they reflect encompassing what all we do, everyday with everyone, for everyone.

If we look at McKinsey values, they will sound perfect for any services organization that provides services and consulting, blended in approach and delivery. Why struggle, add them to your core values and see if you really do all that today as you have written. Ask yourself, why you are not doing many things as you would like to.

You will find answers in one of these factors below-

1.     You do not consider environment much important in what you do. Environment mean people you work with as team or coordinates, organization and client.

2.     You consider ends as the only thing that matters.

3.     You believe others will take care of things around what you do and there is no need to worry about, whether your actions have met the meaningful and logical intent and purpose.

McKinsey values are quite inspiring and need to be looked at when you are thinking of working on your organization’s core values!

McKinsey.com/ http://www.mckinsey.com/about_us/our_values

 "Our values aren't quasi-religious virtues but rather a set of interlocking and mutually reinforcing choices."

Our Mission

To help our clients make distinctive, lasting, and substantial improvements in their performance and to build a great firm that attracts, develops, excites, and retains exceptional people.

. Create an unrivaled environment for exceptional people

. Be nonhierarchical and inclusive.

. Sustain a caring meritocracy.

. Develop one another through apprenticeship and mentoring.

. Uphold the obligation to dissent.

. Govern ourselves as a "One Firm" partnership.

Though we share the same core values and passion for our work, you will be hard pressed to find two people with the same story. Our knowledge professionals come from a multitude of backgrounds and cultures. Our community includes accountants, engineers, economists, scientists, musicians, and recent graduates from a full range of disciplines. In addition to this rich diversity of professional profiles, you’ll find yourself surrounded by opera singers and pianists, marathon runners and mountain climbers, ballerinas and flamenco dancers, chefs and sommeliers*!

*A sommelier (/ˈsɒməljeɪ/ or /sʌməlˈjeɪ/; French pronunciation: ​[sɔməlje]), or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing.

We believe we will be successful if our clients are successful.

Solving the hardest problems requires the best people. We think that the best people will be drawn to the opportunity to work on the hardest problems. We build our firm around that belief. These two parts of our mission reinforce each other and make our firm strong and enduring.

We are a values-driven organization. For us this means to always:

Put the client’s interest ahead of our own

This means we deliver more value than expected. It doesn’t mean doing whatever the client asks.

Behave as professionals

Uphold absolute integrity. Show respect to local custom and culture, as long as we don’t compromise our integrity.

Keep our client information confidential

We don’t reveal sensitive information. We don’t promote our own good work. We focus on making our clients successful.

Tell the truth as we see it

We stay independent and able to disagree, regardless of the popularity of our views or their effect on our fees. We have the courage to invent and champion unconventional solutions to problems. We do this to help build internal support, get to real issues, and reach practical recommendations.

Deliver the best of our firm to every client as cost effectively as we can

We expect our people to spend clients’ and our firm’s resources as if their own resources were at stake.

We operate as one firm. We maintain consistently high standards for service and people so that we can always bring the best team of minds from around the world—with the broadest range of industry and functional experience—to bear on every engagement.

We come to better answers in teams than as individuals. So we do not compete against each other. Instead, we share a structured problem-solving approach, where all opinions and options are considered, researched, and analyzed carefully before recommendations are made.

We give each other tireless support. We are fiercely dedicated to developing and coaching one another and our clients. Ours is a firm of leaders who want the freedom to do what they think is right.