Whether seeking business partners or employees, compatibility in values is crucial in building solid foundations and making lasting partnerships. Stressful and rapidly changing environments require compatibility in values, philosophy, and goals. The still struggling economy continues to present many industries and businesses with a variety of challenges. It’s no surprise that a true partnership, build on a solid foundation and mutual trust provides a basis for a more enduring collaboration.
If part of your responsibilities as a leader/manager, involves hiring new employees and/or assigning teams, it’s crucial that you understand the importance of value compatibility in building solid foundations and lasting partnerships. It’s in this kind of partnerships that you will find more productive and loyal employees. Partnering with someone who has talent and can achieve results is only part of the equation. To truly maximize your chances of success, you must not only understand value compatibility, but also utilize the concept to your advantage.
Keep in mind that finding people who share in your values doesn’t mean hiring a bunch of ‘yes-men’ who agree with whatever you say. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. As long as the core values of those involved are compatible, having a team of people who bring different ideas, experiences, and ways of doing things gives you strength in diversity.
Imagine a group of people who share the same goal, but not the same core values. While certain ways of reaching those goals may be acceptable to some, that won’t be the case for all. For example, if the goal is to have a million dollars, some people may find it acceptable to rob a bank, while others won’t. Clearly core values of those two groups of people are very different and will play a very important role in how these groups can work together.
Once again, it’s one of the many responsibilities of a leader/manager to understand these concepts and utilize them in ways that will maximize potential for success. Pay attention, talk to your employees, examine their track records and look for clues about their values. Brush up on your interviewing skills to better understand the values of potential employees.
