Caption: Young women twisting string around the stalks of young shade grown tobacco. Tying the stalks to the overhead wires reduces damage from wind and rain. Circa 1960s. WHS collections 2011.1.86. (Photo courtesy of Windsor Historical Society, Windsor, Connecticut)
Leading with Character: More than the Minimum
Have you ever taken time away from the day-to-day to think about personal core values—where they come from and what are yours? Now’s a good time to do so, right here with this blog. I invite you to join me on this short journey of self-discovery.
Core Values
Personal core values are often instilled during childhood and young adult years. They’re values that shape us and drive who we are, how we act, and what we do. Yet we may not recognize when or how those values originated. I appreciate moments of reflection that bring me back in time and inspire me to recall when and how I learned (or more aptly earned!) my core values. One of those moments occurred recently while I was pulling together notes for a talk. I like to start most of my keynotes with a few words on the importance of core values. Your personal core values shape your standards; your standards drive how you act, your actions in turn define your character; and your character determines the kind of person, team player, and leader you’ll become.
Your core values are your moral compass. They’re your anchor to windward during tumultuous times, when the tough decisions must be made. With a core values-based foundation, you’ll be well positioned to make good choices and wise decisions for yourself and your team. That’s why it’s crucial to know what your core values are and to make your best effort to live them every day.
Earning It
I earned and internalized the core values of hard work and perseverance laboring on farms at a young age. When I was a teenager, our country experienced the oil shock of the mid-70’s. Now that was a real recession with long gas lines and interest rates that hit 17%. I needed a job to make money for college, but there were few available in the suburbs where we lived in Ellicott City, MD. So, starting at age 13, I spent summers with my grandparents on their farm in the Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts. There, at age 13 I worked on a cucumber farm, and at 14 and 15, I labored on a tobacco farm, tying & sewing tobacco.
In the stifling heat under the tobacco tents and in the barns, working side-by-side with migrant laborers, juvenile delinquents, and local kids, I had to scramble to make the daily “quota,” of production required to earn my pay and keep my job. It would have been easy for me to fall short, quit, or be content with doing just enough to get by. Instead, I persevered and worked even harder to earn “piece work,” which was incentive pay for those who exceeded their quota. I used the money made on piece work to treat myself to ice cream—and anyone who knows me knows I love ice cream! That experience taught me the value of going beyond expectations by doing more than just the minimum required. More than the Minimum – that’s a core values based, powerful mantra I’ve tried to live by.
I was never the smartest, fastest, or most gifted, but those core values of hard work and perseverance, instilled when I was a teenager, leveled the playing field of life. Doing more than the minimum enabled me to rise above my limitations and succeed beyond expectations in achieving my goals and objectives.
Look in the mirror: As a leader, what can you do to help your people determine their personal core values?
Please join me again next time for more on Leading with Character.
If you enjoyed this post, please visit my website where you can buy my book, Breaking Ice & Breaking Glass: Leading in Uncharted Waters, and sign up for my mailing list: https://sandrastosz.com/book/breaking-ice-and-breaking-glass/
