Where you invest is a direct reflection of what you value

Because I’m not a finance expert or an accountant, I reached out to my accountant, Matt Bralove, and former consulting CFO Kesha-Simone Jones to weigh in and share their genius. It was fascinating to hear how different yet similar their perspectives were to my own. They shared that in their consulting businesses, they repeatedly saw that it was easy to say that you had values until money was involved—which goes both ways. You need money to invest in the things that reflect your values and you also need money to have a sustainable business so that you’re not operating out of lack, scarcity, and fear when making decisions. It’s very hard to do that when there is no profit.

Getting clear on the company’s money blocks, flows, and opportunities, in good times and bad, sets the stage for leaders to make more intentional choices about their budgets and investments.

During the pandemic, many organizations were butting up against this experience. Business as usual was no more. Entire industries shut down. Companies were struggling to figure out how to stay afloat. I know of a company that, prior to the pandemic, actively honored their value of family first. Whenever there was a question of whether an employee should clock more billable hours or spend time with their family, the company always prioritized family. They knew that if their people were with their families, they would be happier and better employees. When COVID hit, their employees fully embraced family first, but the company’s profits suffered, and their clients suffered. It was a true conundrum for them.

One partner was always waving the family-first flag while the other was waving the profit-first flag. They admitted that when things got tough, values didn’t matter—cash mattered. Cash is king is the mindset of the majority of business leaders. What leaders don’t easily realize is that the more deeply grounded they are in their values, the more clearly and readily they can make choices for the business budgets and investments that carry them through the uncertainty and ultimately cement them into more solid financial ground.

Where we invest is a direct reflection of what we value. If we value our values, we’ll double down on ensuring that they have the money required to back them up and give them the foundation they need to exist and not starve.

Share budget basics. Your budget needs to be a tool for you to execute your vision, mission, and values. There’s no real risk in a budget, as it can change at any time. So instead of simply throwing out numbers, create definitions of what those numbers mean and how you want them to make you feel. How much money will it take to create that feeling? Most business owners struggle to get to a big number. When they do, it creates a new thirst that makes that number never big enough. Unless your company’s core value is wealth, chasing the number will pull you away from your values.

There’s a company I work with that has doubled their business revenue every year, but the owner isn’t happy. He has an internal tug-of-war because he knows they’re not investing that money into things that will allow them to truly embrace their value of balance. If they invested in the tools and technology that would alleviate their extensive time sucks, then it might be possible. But the company is moving so fast, so quickly that they haven’t taken the time to pause, see what they’re investing in, and make choices that enable their team to work smarter instead of harder.

Define success. Define success by asking yourself the following questions:

– What kind of organization are we really trying to build?

– How do we define success?

– How does our success align with our values?

– Is it based on a certain dollar amount?

– How much does that dollar amount have to change each year?

– How are we going to define success for this season?

– What do we really want?

– How can we build a budget and a profit based on that picture, not based on what others think or what we see other organizations doing?

Identify values-aligned allocations. When determining your budget, are your allocations a true reflection of your values? If you have the value of excellence, is there a significant budget allocated for your team members to have the equipment they need to deliver excellent services? If you have the value of inclusion, is there money put aside for proper training to illuminate unconscious bias within your team? If you have the value of community, does your leadership invest in paying for experiences that build a sense of connection? It’s one thing to say that you care about something in your words; it’s an entirely different thing to back it up in your investments. When I look at someone’s budget, I can tell you very quickly what a company values in reality and compare it to their stated core values. It’s one of these obvious disconnects that somehow keeps going under the radar.

On the flip side, I’ve known companies that have massively invested in their values-driven culture—so much so that profit didn’t matter to them in the moment. It was truly about what was right for their people. And guess what? The return they got on that investment was always more significant than the dollars down:

– Eighty percent of employees felt more engaged when their work was consistent with the core values and mission of their organization (IBM).

– Ninety-three percent of workers at companies with recognition programs tied to core values agree that the work they do has meaning and purpose (Globoforce).

– Seventy-seven percent of employees agree that a strong culture allows them to do their best work, 76 percent see the impact in productivity and efficiency, and 74 percent draw a correlation between culture and their ability to serve their customer base (Eagle Hill Consulting)

Try it before you buy it. You can’t simply invest money into your values as a way to solve or get ahead of the problem. When you make these financial investments, you must also be willing to invest in your own hours, people, and resources. Otherwise you could have a case of throwing money at something that doesn’t get used or adopted into your cultural norms.

For example, I had a team member who was manually transcribing interviews daily. He told me how difficult it was and how much energy it was taking out of him. Thinking that I was being helpful and activating our value of inner harmony, I invested in a top-rated piece of equipment to help with transcription. I didn’t take any time to learn how to use it or to see if it was even worthwhile for us to implement. I just gave it to him and expected it to solve his problems. It didn’t. I essentially flushed that money down the toilet because I did not take the time to truly understand the issue and get involved in a solution that was bigger than just transcription. It was connected to workload and expectations.

You might think, “Well, I’m giving my money. Therefore, I budgeted for this tool to support inner harmony and balance. That’s enough.” If you do not invest in the conversation but are willing to write a check, you’re only halfway there. Next time you’re ready to invest money into a solution, ask yourself, “Am I paying for this to try to make a problem go away?” or “Am I paying for this because I’ve gotten curious about the problem and know this solution will get us further ahead?” Be willing to slow down in order to get ahead.

Be transparent. This may seem extreme for some, but it’s a proven practice that both my accountant and CFO heavily subscribe to. Share your numbers with your people whenever possible. We often think that this will be too much for people to take in, but it ultimately creates more ownership and understanding of the overall business structure. If you’re not comfortable with showing it all, share percentages and connect those percentages to your values. Total them up and present that to your people. It could be as simple as family first: 50 percent; freedom: 30 percent; community: 20 percent.

Practice what you preach. So many companies talk out of both sides of their mouths. They preach about how much they care about their values but then their practices are totally disconnected. This is significant when it comes to budgets and investments. For example, a company might say that they have the value of well-being, but even while knowing how stretched the team already is, they keep making executive decisions to lay off team members and expect the folks still employed to carry all their leftover workload in order to make a bigger profit. Or perhaps a company expects everyone to live their values but they don’t invest in any support to help coach, train, or engage team members in their personal growth relative to these values. It’s mostly common sense that isn’t so common. 

When teams do practice what they preach, true alignment exists.

I had the privilege of working alongside Dr. Charles Johnson-Bey when he was leading the Cyber Innovations team at Lockheed Martin. This man is a genius when it comes to math, science, and humanity. When he took over his newly formed team, he reached out. Charles was effective at connecting one-on-one but wanted his team members to feel a greater connection to each other. His goal was for the team to have solid bonds that inspired ongoing collaboration.

After I facilitated a successful series of values-based workshops and trainings, he had a vision for the ultimate experience together: a retreat at Disney World. Charles invited his team to join him at their Orlando location for strategic planning, connection, collaboration, and fun. My role was to embody those values during our time at the theme park and facilitate more focused values work over dinner. It was the definition of magic—exciting, unexpected, and inspiring.

From the time we boarded the plane to the time we sat down for dinner, organic (yet intentional) sparks were flying. After only a few hours of waiting in lines and experiencing the latest attractions together, a new level of trust and connection was reached. Our drive back from the park to the hotel included full-volume carpool karaoke and storytelling about our passions outside of work; deep new bonds cemented between us.

How did that happen? It wasn’t “ just because” we were at Disney World—that’s not a silver bullet solution. It happened because every single person chose to invest in being there—physically, emotionally, and financially. They chose to let go of normal workplace formalities, embrace the magic, and ignite new possibilities to truly know each other. This investment sent a massive message to the team that their leader wants them to collaborate more often and have fun while doing it.

Remember that cheaper isn’t always better. I’m all about saving money. I was raised in a home whose motto was ACAP (as cheap as possible) when it came to our purchases. But as I grew older, I learned firsthand that you get what you pay for. If communication is a core value and you invest only in the cheapest online course you can find to help train people in their public speaking skills, you will likely get the results that you paid for. That’s not to say that there aren’t incredible affordable options these days, but it’s worth looking beyond the price tag to determine whether the product will support your people and truly set them up for success.

Give permission to be human. Although your accounting and finance team needs to be top notch at these financial factors, not all team members are numbers people and will have an easy time with their budgets. Tune in to which leaders may need some more support, and determine who can coach, mentor, or train them to sharpen those skills—or even have them collaborate with someone who is already a pro to ensure that people are working in their genius. I heard a soccer coach once say, “I would never ask my goalie to practice scoring goals. They need to be the best at stopping them. Why would we waste our time building skills that they don’t really need when it counts?”

Are you looking to align your investments and budgets with your values? 

This was an excerpt from MaryBeth’s book – Permission to Be Human: The Conscious Leaders Guide to Creating a Values-Driven Culture.

Learn more from this company culture book.

Or take our core values quiz to find out what are your values. corevaluesquiz.com