{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Bringing Your Business Culture to Life with Hagen Kern","description":"What\u2019s different about a business when it\u2019s grounded in purpose? Everything. Your business\u2019s culture is your only real competitive advantage: people can attempt to copy your products and positioning, but no one can copy your culture. When companies don\u2019t design their culture in a specific way, they allow it to be 'by default.' But purpose-powered businesses have a unique culture, because they recognize the power and privilege of designing one that is an expression of their purpose to the world. In this episode, we discuss culture; specifically values as the bedrock of culture. The wrong approach Many companies create a list of words and hang them on the wall. That doesn\u2019t tap into the real value of values. This doesn\u2019t work because: If you\u2019re just using words, you\u2019re using words most other companies are already using. Words\u2019 meanings can vary from person to person. Many times, these values exist only on the wall and are not personified anywhere else. Values personified Kevin shares a few stories about his stay at the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver and their exceptional customer service \u2014 unlike many other hotels he has visited in the past. He recounts the story of the room switch, the story of the green button, the unexpected cappuccino machine, and meeting with the lodge\u2019s VP of Revenue Development. Why was the Heathman Lodge so different? They have the Heathman Lodge Treaty, a list of all their values and examples. For example, \u201cWhose job is it?\u201d will never happen at the lodge. It\u2019s everyone\u2019s job to make the customer happy. When hiring, people get a copy of the treaty first, and only get an application form if they agree to the treaty and sign it. How do you bring values to life in your organization? Personalize the values into expressions of who you are and what\u2019s different in your organization or business. And then: Use this as your criteria for hiring Rank-order them, so people know what\u2019s important when making a decision. Use your values as your compass to make things right when things go wrong. Operationalize your values: put them into action. Get them off the wall and into hearts. Unless and until values translate into behaviors and beliefs, the benefit of values will either be marginalized or minimized. Meet Hagen Hagen Kern is the owner of Junk King Chicago Downtown, a full-service junk removal business in their early stages of formalizing their company\u2019s values. Purpose according to Hagen is having clear, defined objectives on what they want to achieve with the business. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about making money. It\u2019s, what do we bring to the table? What are we actually solving? What are we for? What do we stand for? It\u2019s important that we can relate this to our employees, and employees can relate this to customers.\u201d Why have a purpose statement? Hagen talks about having issues with high turnover rates. That\u2019s when they realized it was time to find the right people for the business, those who can stand behind their purpose and values and identify with them \u2014 so they can represent them. Vision and mission statements can be too vague and too far removed from employees\u2019 and customers\u2019 everyday experiences. He wanted a purpose statement that everybody in the company could be involved in, see their part in, connect with, and make come to life on a daily basis. Everybody is a stakeholder for that purpose. The purpose statement in action Hagen\u2019s company\u2019s purpose statement has a list of 7 values they live by. For example: Honesty. As a hauling company, sometimes things get damaged or scratched up. Living by the value of honesty means owning up to it, and never leaving it for the customer to find out. The customer must hear it from them. These are basic, relatable values, and Hagen shares the process behind coming up with them. What do they do with this list? Integrate it into the hiring application, because they want to hire by character Relate to them when situations come up, or when there are miscommunications. (e.g. \u201cYeah, we probably didn\u2019t go the extra mile this one time.\u201d Bring it up during team meetings, and on occasion, have a team member pick a value and articulate what it means to them in their own words. Keep it on display all over the office, to keep them top of mind. Hagen wants to inspire and encourage others to incorporate purpose and values into their work. If you can make what you want to achieve relatable, then you\u2019ll keep your employees motivated, and they, in turn, will do their day-to-day work in a superior and excellent manner. Parting words and next steps It\u2019s not too early or too late to bring purpose into fruition through your work. If this resonated with you and you want to take the next step, check out Kevin\u2019s free resource: go to 28daysprint.com and download the free Value of Values worksheet. Resources mentioned in this episode: Kevin Monroe\u2019s LinkedIn profile The Construction Leading Edge Podcast by Todd Dewalt Download the Value of Values checklist Hagen Kern LinkedIn Junk King Website Facebook Twitter YouTube ","author_name":"Higher Purpose Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/higherpurposepodcast.com","html":"