As I’ve mentioned previously, the best way to build, support and retain a great team is to encourage a generous corporate culture that everyone wants to be part of! Your company should have values that everyone agrees to uphold. These should be posted visibly – even on coffee cups and t-shirts. Everyone throughout the organization must be empowered to “call” any team member not honoring the values, in an ingegrous, generous way. Here are some good examples of company values from the venture capital firm I started several years ago:

Add massive value every day, take ownership and be accountable, make and keep commitments, respect one another, and be positive.

The results are encouraging. I’ve seen solid, enduring, and humane work environments created by endorsing values such as these, and at the same time, I’ve seen environments that had great potential to thrive take the opposite direction and burn to the ground without them. Don’t let your company be a casualty!

Encourage the following virtues:

–       humility

–       communication

–       empowerment

–       generosity

–       focus

–       fiscal responsibility

–       innovation

–       patience

Remember, hiring Grade A people creates Grade A teams. Fill the top slots of the organization with Grade A people, and then let these executives fill out their teams. Communicate cross-company weekly because people need to know and like to know what is going on. And finally, help every team member envision their next promotion or two. These should be communicated to them in one-on-one forums with their managers.

So, remember to create, post and endorse your company values. Help people grow and they’ll return the favor.

Christine Comaford, The Executive Coach
CEO of Mighty Ventures, Inc. and Business Accelerator
http://www.BusinessAccelerationIntensive.com