After prolonged procrastination disguised as a very busy schedule of juggling everything life can bring our way, I have finally written my first blog.  Blogging…..me….who would have thought….certainly not I !! 

What a time of change the last year has been for many of us and I certainly experienced my share of it. One thing did not change for me….my insatiable appetite for personal growth through learning. In late 2007 I received my advanced certification from The Values Centre to conduct Organizational Values Assessments in order to offer a measurable foundation for companies looking to embark on internal Cultural Transformation with the goal to create long lasting sustainability for their business. I am grateful to have been given the freedom and the resources to move in a direction that was aligned with my personal and professional values. One of those resources started with a friend giving me a copy of a book by author Matthew Gilbert entitled “Workplace Revolution”.  This amazing read that spoke so many truths about the current environment in our workplaces today also gave insight into what will be essential for businesses to survive in the 21st Century…..simply put….greater global consciousness. This book led me to Richard Barrett, author of “Liberating the Corporate Soul” and founder of The Values Centre.

Today I received an update from The Values Centre and thought it would be a great place to start in my blog. The following words came from Phil Clothier, CEO of The Values Centre. 

“Well, 2008 has started with a certain amount of turbulence and uncertainty in the business world, and this is having a domino effect into the lives of people. Of course, we already knew just how much of a difference it makes to “everything” when an organization becomes conscious of it’s values and lives them. It has been rumoured, and even written about, for a long time.”

“When Richard wrote ‘Liberating the Corporate Soul’, what he had to say was not mainstream. His thoughts were visionary and to some people, very strange. Well, the world has changed in the last 10 years, and leaders and businesses are truly waking up to this new reality. The service we provide is no longer niche or strange. Measuring culture and values is critical to the success and sustainability of organizations. I believe that the CTT Network (which is now over 1700 people in 55 countries) will be in greater demand over the coming months and years. What we (‘we’ meaning the core Values Centre staff and all network members) have to offer, from ongoing cultural measurement and analysis to full scale organizational transformation is now entering the mainstream of business evolution.”

“It is interesting to note that the companies who measure their culture year on year and act on the data are experiencing the greatest benefits from the investment. Doing a values assessment only once is like starting a course of medicine and only taking the dose for the first day. Transformation is a process, not a one time fix. I would encourage you to start planning your projects this way and to help your clients and prospects understand this too.”
Phil Clothier, CEO, www.valuescentre.com

I believe Phil’s comments are so ‘bang on’ and were also expressed with such clarity that I could not have done it any better. So I leave you with the above shared awareness, suggested reading material and the thought that you may want to consider embarking on your own personal and organizational exploration of the importance of values alignment. 

Please find a link below which takes you to a video of an interview with the author of “Transforming Giants”, an article published in the January 2008 edition of The Harvard Business Review that speaks to values alignment as being the essential focus for successful businesses.

http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/flatmm/hbrextras/200801/kanter/index.html 

Cheers,

Judy Adams, EssentialStrategy Inc.