We make scores of decisions every day: what shows to watch on T.V., whether to watch T.V. at all, or read a book, what to eat, what to wear, whom to have as friends. The choices are limitless, yet we sort them quite efficiently based on a value system we adopted long ago. Is there such a mechanism at our place of work?
Core Values within an organization, large or small, are the commandments of all behavior. Whom to hire, what to sell, what to represent as an entity, how to treat employees, social responsibility, and on and on. Too often these values are posted on websites as a menu of ethics, when indeed, they should be private and for a company’s internal consumption. After all, we don’t walk around with our [personal] code of ethics pinned to our backs. We teach it to our kids, share it with our closest friends and in general, live by them.
On April 3rd, we launch a new feature on this Blog: Stores we Love. In our editorial meeting we discussed what our criteria should be. Many opinions were rendered, discussions ensued, tears were shed, fists were thrown (just kidding). Armando looked up from his silence and simply said: “candidates should embody our Core Values.” We were stunned by the simplicity and elegance of his utterance. Of course. The criteria is self evident as we reviewed our own values that are posted boldly in our main conference room. This meant of course, that a Store we Love and want to feature, may not necessarily be our customer if we are true to our values! We love Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford and Alexander McQueen. They are not our customers.
In the coming weeks we will share with you (mostly, but not exclusively) retail Furniture & Design Studios that bring something genuine, meaningful and fresh to the table. Stores who live by the laws of integrity and innovation, who care about pleasing their customers, have impeccable taste and are passionate about what they do. We hope you love them too.
-EM
