The Value of Brand Values

Does your organization have clearly defined values? Do you know what they are and how they impact your work—or are they filed away in a deck you saw once or even helped draft?

If you said the latter, we need to talk. Values aren’t just the outcome of a company exercise to boost morale for a hot minute. When championed, your organization’s values become the decision-making guide rails they are meant to be. They help shape your internal culture, growth strategies, how you innovate… you name it! Side effects may include an inspired and committed team and an audience who sees you consistently walking the walk, which generally leads to increased revenue.

Naming and Acting on Your Brand Values

Your values should reflect the essential characteristics at the heart of what you do, why you do it, and how you do it. Defining them helps you recognize when you are going off-track, conflicting with what makes your company distinct. On the flip side, values also help you determine areas to lean into as measurements of success beyond sales.

Once your values are in place, you’ve got to put them to work! Centering your values helps create the exact vibe that builds trust with your team, investors, and audience: confident consistency.

Looking to acknowledge your team? You could base it on efficiency and leave it at that—but if you want people to feel seen and like they are part of something, then use your company values as a benchmark. Looking for a new influencer relationship to help promote your product? Sure, you could go by who has the most followers—but how does their brand align with your values? Get it wrong, and people will notice. Looking to step out in the market with a new product? You could just look at your competitors and try to outdo their latest offerings, but is that pulling you away from your brand values and even holding you back from really innovating?

Values in Action

So, ok, what about our values at Beardwood? We worked together as an organization to name what we know to be imperative for creating our best work, our warmest company culture, and being the best partner to our clients:

1. Bravery: Ask the tough questions and champion the work, with the will to see it through.
2. Anti-Bland: Challenge the safe. Take risks to be original and stand out for success.
3. Curiosity: Have an intense wonder for the world, fueled by the desire to make it work better (and be brighter).
4. Humanity: Be honest, empathetic, and happy to laugh. Care for our work, our clients, and each other.

We bring our values up daily to push our thinking and gut-check our approach to every aspect of how we do business. Are we the best and bravest partner to our clients by helping them see some hard truths? Have we asked enough questions and dug deep enough to understand the challenge and the possibilities? Are we making space for our team and our clients to be whole and complex people? Has our thinking lit a real fire, or did we accidentally just glitter up something bland? Does this candidate show signs of bravery, curiosity, risk-taking, and compassion?

Defining and centering your organization’s values simplifies making confident decisions because you know who you are and what you stand for.

Thinking back to that deck that you haven’t seen in a while… are your values pulling their weight? If you want more from them, we’re brave enough to help you get there.