My 15 year old daughter Maddison has been dancing since she was 4 or 5. She is quite good, I think. At very least I enjoy watching her. I enjoy watching her mature in her technique and abilities.
A while back she participated in a dance competition with her team. It’s not unusual at these events to have workshops in the morning and afternoons before the evening event. These workshops are often taught by the guest judges that are brought in for the performances.
One of the judges that was there had a very impressive resume having choreographed and worked with long list of celebrities. She has worked with Jennifer Lopez, Gloria Esteffan and Madonna to name a few.
The morning after the competition, Maddison was talking to my wife about the workshops, demonstrating some of the techniques that she had learned the previous day. Here is what fascinated me. The language of dance is universal. Now I don’t know dance at all but, not surprisingly, they have universal terms to describe the various moves and positions.
When the judge was working with Maddison and the other girls, she was using the exact same language or terms that they had learned in their studio here in Arizona. It made communication and understanding very easy. As a result, they were able to learn and accomplish a lot in a very short period of time.
In order for you to be effective in your business, you need to have a common language; one that the people in your business can easily understand without having to struggle to interpret. Most businesses don’t have a common language. Even when we say something like “marketing” it could have different meanings. When speaking of core values often people will say we value integrity in our organization. What exactly does than mean? I could ask 10 people to define integrity and I might get 10 different interpretations and answers.
Common language begins with your vision and your goals. I recommend coming up with terms in your organization that are unique to your business. Come up with terms that people can really understand.
One of the powerful attributes of Level 7 is our use of unique and yet a common language that people that are engaged in the implementation of it understand and can embrace. Over time, the people in your organization begin to understand the language of Level 7 and ultimately begin operating according to its principles and actions.
When someone says something like, “What is the result we are looking to achieve” or “let’s focus on the system,” we know they are learning the language of a productive and effective business.
And what that amounts to is a beautiful dance. (You know I had to tie it back to the analogy)
Begin to develop your Core Values in Action document.
- Consider your core values. These are beliefs and values for your business that are not to be compromised. Every action and thought must be congruent with these.
- Make your list. Come up with a unique term for the item that your people will be to identify with.
- Define the meaning of each item.
- Write an actual example or story to illustrate each of them.
- Compile your materials to create your Core Values in Action document.