Last week I spoke for Delta Airlines. I am a frequent flier of DELTA and so maybe I am biased but they truly are one of the most admired companies in the world. I spoke to 1000 of their leaders and the average tenure of the leaders in the room was 20 years – they must be doing something right.
As I dove into the culture of the company to prepare for my speech I was impressed with their core values – what they call the Rules of The Road.
Delta’s Core Values (Rules of the Road)
o Always tell the truth HONESTY
o Always keep your deals INTEGRITY
o Don’t hurt anyone RESPECT
o Try harder than all our competitors—never give up PERSEVERANCE
o Care for our customers, our community and each other SERVANT LEADERSHIP
The thing that impressed me is how well these values have permeated the organization and it struck me how few of the companies out there are clear on the values that drive their business – not only companies, but organizations, families and individuals too. What do you stand for? Are you clear on what drives your behavior?
Why is it important? Because when your values are clear to you then making decisions becomes easy.
Simply put – your values make you valuable.