064: I Found My TRUE NORTH Values and It Changed Everything!

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Have you ever wondered what makes truly great teams function so seamlessly? The secret might be simpler than you think: shared values that everyone genuinely believes in.

When Mark set out to establish core values for his company, he initially approached it as a solo exercise. "I have to come up with what I believe my core values are," he explains, reflecting on his early leadership journey. But the magic happened when he opened up this process to his entire team. Suddenly, these weren't just Mark's values—they became the team's collective compass, something everyone had a stake in upholding.

The surprising revelation came when "communication" emerged as a core value the team prioritized, catching Mark off guard. This sparked important self-reflection: "Is it because I don't communicate enough? Do they feel like there's not enough transparency?" This vulnerable moment highlights how collaborative value-setting creates opportunities for growth that top-down approaches often miss. Other values like integrity, teamwork, accountability, and continuous improvement rounded out their foundation, creating a framework that guides both internal interactions and client relationships.

What happens after establishing these values? The conversation explores how Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) transform abstract values into measurable actions. As Mark beautifully puts it, "by having the team help with the core values, it's much easier to get them in the boat rowing with me as a team and not rowing in a different direction." This rowing analogy perfectly captures the essence of values-based leadership—when everyone understands and believes in the destination, they naturally align their efforts without constant management. Listen now to discover how defining your core values might be the most important team exercise you'll ever undertake.

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Hi, I’m Marc Thomas, Founder and CEO of Current TEK Solutions and CYBER GUARDIANS. If you or someone you know could benefit from our cutting-edge IT and cybersecurity services, we’d love to help. Reach out to us today to learn how we can secure and elevate your business. https://www.currentTEKsolutions.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
really evaluate another, another person.
I have to.
I have to come up with what,what I believe my core values
are, um, so that makes this alittle different.
I didn't, I didn't build thesewith with a team.
It was things that I came upwith on my own, um, and then I I
thought, you know, that'sreally the only way that I can I

(00:24):
judge another person butevaluate another person.
And if they fall outside of oneof those core values, it's easy
to say that if you're going tobe part of the Integra MSP way
is what I've decided to call itIf you're not learning, then

(00:45):
that's going to be an issue andit's not necessarily going to
get you exited from the company,but it's something that we just
it's going to impact theperformance of others.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Having integrity obviously builds that trust from
the client side by us havingintegrity right.
So by having integrity, ourclients will be more trusting of
us and that being important.
So it's very cool to hear kindof that definition from the team
.
It's like hey, what does thismean?
Now, obviously I wasn't forcingeveryone to say what each thing

(01:25):
means, right, but those thatwanted to offer up their opinion
on that, right, hey, let's hearit.
And um, and some were, you know, would wait.
Just oh, I want to talk aboutthis when we get there.
Okay, we'll get there, um sohere's the one that really
shocked me the most and andmaybe it shouldn't have, but it
did, which is a little bit ofreflection of myself maybe

(01:49):
Communication, communication wasa core value that was selected.
I can tell you that I did notvote for communication, but I
see it's important,communication, so then I
instantly go well, geez, is itbecause I don't communicate
enough?
Do they feel like there's notenough transparency?

Speaker 1 (02:06):
You know that they're not informed.
What are they saying about me?
You know like what am I doing?

Speaker 2 (02:10):
wrong yeah yeah.
So that's what I said.
How do I say this is important?
So let's look at this, becauseI want to make sure we
understand what that means andaddress it, because if that's
that important to you, then it'simportant to me, right?
So?
And I so my notes arenecessarily, like always the
best, as I'm trying to scribblethings down, but you know part

(02:31):
of this was saying that it helpsan understanding in what to do
next communication, right, um,that I got to read my writing.
That both internal and tech,external, so both internal,
facing for team members and teamfor the team, and external to

(02:52):
the client, that they feel ithelps with transparency, which
then supports some of the othercore values.
Right, that integrity, right,and I'm like, sure, obviously
there's a right time and rightplace for some of those
communications, right, um, yes,but, uh, no, but, and and and
want to be misadjusted.

(03:13):
That about, um, listening tosome ted talks, because ted
talks are structured a veryspecific way for communication
and delivery.
I'm like I will take note of it.
Looks like I need to watch someTED Talks just to see that
reference.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, I've watched some TED Talks but I have never
watched them to dissect theirstructure and how they're giving
the talk.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Well, you've got one up on me.
I don't think I've ever watcheda full TED Talk.
Oh really no.
I mean, I know there's somegood stuff there.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Yeah, yeah, they're.
They're really good and some ofthem are not, but but usually
because it doesn't interest meat all and I'm like I thought it
would, but it doesn't.
But no, I do enjoy them though.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
And our last and final one, kind of once again, I
think falls in line with yours,and that was continuous
improvement.
Yeah, and this is real short,everything can be improved,
everyone can be improved,everyone can be better.
There's always room forimprovement.
We talk about that.
You know that 1% a day, thatcompounding and the value of

(04:22):
that.
So there's always room forimprovement.
I'm trying to improve myselfright On many different levels.
So, yeah, that's what wedetermined.
So, now that we have these corevalues great, we established
core values.
Now what's next?
Right Right now, what?

Speaker 1 (04:41):
Now what.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
So I do find that these words being used a lot in
communication.
Yes, right, and now that we'rein teams and we're talking,
these words get thrown allaround a lot more because now
we've established those, sowe're referencing them quite
frequently.
So the next phase for us isokay, great.

(05:02):
Now we define what our valuesare as a team not Mark's values,
right, but as a team.
For the organization, then itwould be.
Now we start working on who weare and what that means and
where we're going.
Okay as a team.
And that reflects back to theconversation we're talking about

(05:24):
outside of this.
Was okrs right?

Speaker 1 (05:27):
yes, and in using those objective and key results.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Objectives and key results um, so, as a team, we're
meeting to define those.
This isn't, once again, markestablishing goals.
Um, this, we're establishingteam objectives, which is the
path that we are going to take,and then those key results, to

(05:58):
know that we're on the rightpath.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
Yeah, Wouldn't you think, or at least I would think
, that key results are to havegood communication, to be
trustworthy, have integrity andto have all of your core values
would be key results to yourobjective, which is running a

(06:21):
tier one team a tier one team,yeah, at a very yeah, I would
say things, so I'd be especiallyat a, at a high level, right,
like as a high level, as a, as awhole, as an organization, a
hundred percent.
Cause I'm still trying to learnthe okay Okay.
So I'm just kind of trying toput it together with the core
values and right here, you know,we have medical focus.

(06:42):
Oh man, you actually bought thepaper and we have measure what
matters, right, measure whatmatters.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
That's right, I also got this in an audio book.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
That's what I did.
I did the audio book too, butI'm serious, it's like I'm still
trying to learn it.
So it's like, but you know, youcreating the core values.
I mean, at the end of the day,it's real easy to know.
At least I created them and Ibelieve we created them.
That way we could build thebest team that we wanted to

(07:19):
build based on these words, tobuild based on these words and
if, at any point, somethingstarts to happen, we can look at
these words and actuallyinterrogate whatever's happening
, are we having, are we allworking together as a team?

(07:41):
Is everyone being accountable?
Are we working with integrity?

Speaker 2 (07:45):
And then then, if some, all of a sudden, we
realize, you know what, yeah,somebody lost trust in someone
else and that's going to affectthe main objective, um, which is
having a top-notch team and ifI might have said it, but that
too, by having the team helpwith the core values, it's much

(08:08):
easier to get them in the boatrowing with me as a rowing team
and not rowing in a differentdirection.
I'm not dragging them to Mark'score values.
We've established what'simportant to them and it'll be
much easier to uphold those corevalues and as we continue to
grow and bring new individualson board, if they don't meet not

(08:31):
only individuals to work withour team, but also from the
client aspect, if they don'talign with our core values,
they're not a good fit for us.
Now we've got these, we've gotthese key things right that
we're looking for and they don'talign with we're not meant to
be.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah, I, you know it's, it's, it's.
It's so cool because, um, I'mgoing to go back to another
analogy, Sorry.
Go for it, go for it.
Um a few years back I I joineda rowing group um cause I hurt
my.
I'm a runner for those to dosomething else, so I thought I

(09:09):
like the rowing machine at thegym.
How hard could rowing on a lakebe?
It's actually quite difficultbecause you don't think of the
fact that you have to balance ina boat, because if you don't
balance, you fall in the water.

Speaker 2 (09:20):
Oh no.

Speaker 1 (09:23):
But I think that and it's called sculling.
So I was on a boat when theyput us in a boat of four people
and everyone has to beaccountable.
You have to trust each otherand it has to be, it must be
teamwork, because all you needis one person to hit the water.

(09:46):
They call the oar a scull, butall you need is one person to
hit the water.
They call the the or a skull,but all you need is one person
to hit the water, just just thewrong way and everybody's going
down, oh so you have to trusteveryone.
You have to the, the, the.
You have to trust the personthat's behind you, the person
that's in front of you, to dowhat they're supposed to do.
Um, so, yeah, it's it.

(10:09):
And the thing is, there's there, it's not just you running that
ship, everybody is a part ofthat ship and they're all rowing
together.
Um, and they all own thedestination too.
Right, it's it's.
They're in control of thedestination, they're owning it
and at the end, when theyfinally finish whether it be a

(10:31):
day, a week, a year, whatever itis they know that they ran that
ship and they had something todo with it.
And if somebody's not doingsomething right, they don't have
to wait on you or someone elseto go.
Gosh, I wish Mark would fixthis problem that's going on,
it's like no.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
You'd well, instantaneous, you would know
that there's that problem andit's got to be addressed on the
spot, right?
I mean, if you make a mistake,it's quite obvious.
Wow, exactly, I couldn't.
Obviously I've neverexperienced such a thing.
I couldn't.

(11:16):
Uh, obviously I've neverexperienced such a thing.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
I mean, I barely can handle a canoe, um, or a single
person kayak, right, but uh, Iwould totally do it.
It's, it's, it's really quitefun and it is quite the workout.
Um, it's, it's, it is a lot offun, but you will get wet.
So don't, if you don don't, ifyou don't want to fall into a
pretty dirty lake, um, it mightnot be for you, it might not be
for you.
Yeah, yeah, but that's thedeterrent right.

Speaker 2 (11:37):
It's like I'm gonna do everything right oh gosh, oh
yeah, no doubt very cool.
Um, just think where we'regoing here with this.
So the core values Now yourcore values.
Since you've established thoseover time, have those shifted

(11:58):
much, or you've stuck to thosesame core values from the
beginning?

Speaker 1 (12:04):
So it's interesting they have shifted a little.
The ones that shifted werediscipline and ownership, even
though they're somewhat similar,but the core values were
created in 2021.
Oh recently it's very recentwhen I started to realize that

(12:50):
when I started hiring peoplewhich and then I started doing I
started hiring people longbefore 2021, but it wasn't on
the same level that it wasstarting in 2020 or 2019.
And when I did employeeevaluations, it was just like
using someone else's template orsomething like that, and one of

(13:19):
the things that I realized wasthat, in order for me to really
evaluate another person, I haveto come up with what I believe
my core values are.
So that makes this a littledifferent.
I didn't build these with ateam.

(13:45):
It was things that I came upwith on my own.
It was things that I came upwith on my own and then I
thought you know, that MSP wayis what I've decided to call it.
If you're not learning, thenthat's going to be an issue.
It's not necessarily going toget you exited from the it's.

(14:09):
It's going to impact theperformance of others and we're
going to try to promote that andwe're going to try to push you
for it and, honestly, you youmay want to leave at the end of
the day if you don't like.
I'm using learning becausethat's the.
That's kind of the.
That's one that some people Ifind could be complacent, could

(14:31):
get complacent in a position,but if they don't want to have
that as part of one of theircore values in themselves, then
it's probably going to be hardfor them to want to stay with
our company.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
Hi, I'm Mark Thomas, founder and CEO of Current Tech
Solutions and CyberGuardians.
We know business owners likeyou want to focus on growing
your company, not worrying aboutIT problems or security threats
.
That's where we come in.
Our team uses AI to protectyour business from cyber risks
and keep everything runningsmoothly.
If you're ready for peace ofmind and a stronger future,

(15:33):
no-transcript.