Pusch Ridge Principal

Core Values
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." Colossians 3:23

"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." Philippians 2:1-2

How important are values? Values govern how a person will behave in their organization—they drive the behavior of people. Additionally, values are nonnegotiable principles that define one's character. Fewer than 10 percent of organizations around the world have clear, written values. Some of the stated core values in our school system are the following: beauty, Christ-centered environment, community, excellence, goodness, stewardship, service, truth, and virtue (CFCS Foundational Documents of: CCA & PRCA, pages 14 & 23).

I have been meeting with many of the faculty and staff to discuss our core values as a school system. Most companies and school systems that have stated values either have too many or do not have them rank-ordered. CFCS has an excellent grouping of core values; the challenge for the faculty and staff is to select and rank-order four of them. Research shows that if you really want to impact behavior, you can't emphasize more than three or four values, because people can't focus on more than those.

Why is it important to state and prioritize our values as a school system? Because working together in an organization brings value conflicts. When these conflicts arise, people need to know upon which values they should focus. All of us need to be on the same page whenever a situation arises within the school system that could potentially cause conflict in values. Without guidelines, people will create their own order of priority, and that may lead away from following the stated foundational values of an organization, as well as the desired organizational purpose and picture of the future.

As we develop our own value priorities, it is important to know and understand what Jesus set before us as His nonnegotiable priorities. The Pharisees sought to test Jesus with the following question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22: 36-40).

Notice that Jesus rank-ordered two values:

  1. Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
  2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

As the faculty and staff begin to discuss and prioritize our core values, we realize it will take some time to come to agreement to rank-order their importance. Even if they are rank-ordered, values will not drive the accomplishment of a purpose or picture of the future unless they are translated into behaviors. That's what Jesus did throughout his three-year public ministry. Clarifying how values are lived out in behavioral terms allows for accountability and measurement of progress.

Remember, Jesus lived His values of love for God and love for His neighbor all the way to the Cross: "Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

God bless,

Dennis M. O'Reilly

Source: Lead like Jesus, Ken Blanchard & Phil Hodges

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