Navy Core Values add value

Mark Miller wrote about core values on his blog - GREAT LEADERS SERVE

Paraphrasing from his blog and applying his ideas to our Navy core values, he suggests that for "Honor, Courage and Commitment" to add value, Navy leaders must:

Know the values. Share the values. Live the values.

Assuming all three of these conditions are met, he suggests that there are 10 ways that Navy Core Values add value.

1. Core Values create a common language within the Navy and among its Sailors. Once those Navy core values were established, the Navy and her Sailors began the journey to ensure the ideas and concepts were clearly understood. Publishing the words alone is NOT sufficient to add value.
2. Core Values establish norms of conduct and approach. By definition, Navy Core Values are the beliefs that we want to inform/drive the behavior within the Navy. As we continue to communicate these values, our Sailors will respond accordingly.
3. Core Values set the priorities of the organization. Not operating priorities – cultural priorities. Culture is the most powerful force in any organization - think about it, the culture of aviation, surface warfare, submarines, across the shore establishment. Navy core values, once firmly rooted, are the Navy culture.
4. Core Values, when rank ordered, establish behavioral priorities as well. Honor is first among equals.  Courage and Commitment follow.
5. Core Values can be used to screen potential employees. The Navy hires from the whole of American society and then must teach them Navy core values.  Mark Miller suggests that the Navy would be more successful if we selected people who already embodied the Navy's core values.
6. Core Values provide a standard against which people can be evaluated. The Navy should be evaluating Sailors on both traditional performance metrics and adherence to the Navy Core Values.
7. Core Values accelerate the contribution of new Sailors. There is a natural tentativeness in Sailors when they don’t know what is valued in the Navy culture. Without overt declaration of Navy Core Values at each command, new Sailors at your command may spend many months attempting to figure them out.
8. Core Values create a platform for leaders to articulate and demonstrate what matters most. Done well, this builds the Sailors’s trust and confidence in their navy leaders.
9. Core Values provide strategic opportunities for recognition. The behavior you recognize and reward will be repeated.
10. Nothing will shape a culture faster than Navy Core Values articulated, modeled and recognized in practice.

Do all the Sailors in your organization know and practice Navy Core Values? Think about the power of getting everyone in your command aligned around what matters most.