Recently, Fast Company shared a story about the importance of core values. In 2008, Howard Schultz was facing a major crisis. Starbuck’s stock was plummeting. A large institutional shareholder suggested that the time had come to cut the company’s $250 million health care plan.
Schultz animately refused. He told the shareholder:
After all these years, if you believe the financial crisis should change our principles and core purposes, perhaps you should sell your stock. I’m not building a stock. I’m trying to build a great, enduring company.
How important are your core values? Are they more than catchy phrases or pictures on the wall? What if implementing a core value is costly or highly inconvenient? What if members of the senior leadership team are ignoring certain core values in their decision-making process?
Core values should define the personality or attitude of the organization. They should help people make decisions. They should shape the way we think and act.
