Defining the heart of your company during the pandemic ……
If your business doors are closed due to the pandemic, you may have some time on your hands. You’re home, your team is home, and your customers are home. Everyone is wondering when things will go back to normal. Or wondering …. What will the new NORMAL be?
We’ve all been shaken up and, at the time of this writing, non-essential businesses are still closed. We have hopes of opening the rest of our businesses soon, but there are so many unknowns about the summer, the coming fall, and beyond. If you still have a business, or a job, you’re probably looking at yourself as being one of the lucky ones - I know I am.
When you started your business, you may have developed your value statement; it may have been something that you really put a lot of thought into when you first wrote it down. Sometimes when unexpected things happen, they cause enough of a jolt to cause us to take a fresh look at things we’ve looked at many times before. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to take this quiet time to take a fresh look at your company and what it stands for. Personal reflection is a worthwhile endeavor too.
It’s a good time to define or redefine the heart of your company.
What values are at the heart of your company? What do you stand for? How is your company perceived by your customer or potential customer? Your brand IS the perception customers have of you. So, what core principles are shining through? What’s your company culture? Do you like what you see? Like what others see? Does it reflect your true core values?
Right now, with so much uncertainty in the world, and within each of our communities, those companies with values we align with are the ones we will look to support when we’re able. It might have been important before, but I think that during a crisis, the importance of values becomes so much more important in guiding our future decisions.
Have you noticed the companies whose core values are shining through? What do their actions tell you about the souls of their companies? Will they gain or possibly lose customers? Which ones resonate with you?
Here are some examples I’ve noticed – for better or for worse:
1. Restaurants using their uneaten foods to feed people in need, for free
2. A winery that drops off a free case of wine to their restaurant patrons so that they can make a profit from the sale
3. The clothing store using vintage fabrics to make masks
4. Museums hosting free virtual tours
5. The struggling non-profit that is asking for donations for their patrons rather than donations to their organization
6. Individuals who shop for their elderly neighbor
7. Restaurants delivering meals to hospital staff as a way to say thank you
8. Individuals who reach out with a phone call to connect with a scared, sheltering-in-place older person who they don’t know
9. A “non-essential” business opens up prior to the government go-ahead
10. Brewers and distilleries that change operations quickly in order to make needed hand sanitizer
11. Dressmakers who change gears and make masks instead of gowns
12. The company who has coffee delivered to all their employees who are working from home
13. The property owner who tells the restaurant to pay employees rather than their rent during the shutdown
14. Companies who continue to pay benefits for recently laid-off employees
The ways these businesses and individuals are responding to the pandemic sets a tone that reflects who they are. No, we haven’t seen their value statements, but what’s in their hearts shows. What’s in your heart shows in your brand too. Does it need some realignment?
If you’re ready to work on your value statement, think of what truly matters to you. Let your heart be your guide. Are you a helper? Generous? Do you jump in where you see a gap that needs to be filled? Are you innovative? A problem solver? Are you a global thinker? Or are you more micro-community driven?
Write down what matters to you to help bring clarity. Be transparent about what is important to you and to your company as this is become your guide for not only your actions, buy your team’s actions as well. With a strong set of values, you develop a company culture where you will attract customers who value what you value and employees who value what you value. When your values are clear, it helps align everyone to a common goal.
“In a nutshell, culture is the “heartbeat” of a company. It’s something that lights up the entire system. If a company has great culture, it can be the backbone of their success.” – Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia
How will you come out on the other side of this? Taking this time to define or redefine the heart of your company will help others know your values and help you align to where you want your brand to be. Your actions now can be perceived as positive …. And they can also be perceived as negative – it’s up to you. Be who you want to be; what you stand for shows.
Show your heart.
Amy Linn is the Creative Director and Owner of Linn Design Studio – Graphic Design and Brand Strategy Agency with a taste for the wine industry.
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