Podcast Summary: The $100 MBA Show – Episode MBA2485 Guest Teacher: Robert Glazer Topic: How to Identify and Refine Your Core Values to Build a Better Business Release Date: June 24, 2024

Introduction

In Episode MBA2485 of The $100 MBA Show, host Omar Zenhom welcomes listeners to a special guest teacher episode featuring Robert Glazer. Omar sets the stage by emphasizing the critical role that core values play in building and sustaining a successful business. He highlights that understanding and refining core values can attract the right customers, recruit top talent, and facilitate better decision-making.

Omar Zenhom [00:54]: "Your core values is really what you stand for. It's what attracts your customers to you, it will attract the talent you're trying to recruit."

Robert Glazer's Insights on Core Values

Importance of Core Values

Robert Glazer begins by posing a fundamental question to the audience: "What do you value most in life?" He underscores that while everyone has core values, many struggle to articulate them clearly.

Robert Glazer [03:20]: "Few people can articulate their core values. Many people don't even know what they are."

Glazer explains that core values are the non-negotiable principles that guide both personal and professional behavior. They ensure alignment across all aspects of life and business, acting as "swim lanes" that steer individuals and organizations toward the right path.

Robert Glazer [04:15]: "Core values serve as your swim lanes that keep you moving towards the right things and away from the wrong things in your life."

Defining Core Values

Glazer provides a clear definition of core values, distinguishing them from marketing slogans or aspirational statements. He emphasizes that core values should be concise, actionable phrases rather than single words, and should reflect one's true principles without ambiguity.

Robert Glazer [05:05]: "Your core values are short statements of the most important principles in your life. They should describe who you are, not who you want to be."

He contrasts strong core values with less effective ones using examples:

• Strong Value: "Maintain physical and mental discipline" – Action-oriented and applicable across various life areas.
• Weak Value: "Integrity" – Too vague without a specific definition.

Identifying and Refining Core Values

To help listeners identify their core values, Glazer introduces the Core Validator, a set of four critical questions:

1. Can you use it to make a decision?
2. Does the inverse of it cause discomfort?
3. Is it a phrase rather than just one word?
4. Can you objectively rate yourself on it?

Robert Glazer [06:30]: "If you can use it to make a decision and the inverse causes discomfort, it's likely a core value worth keeping."

The Six Behavioral Questions Exercise

Glazer outlines an exercise consisting of six behavioral-based questions designed to uncover underlying themes of core values:

1. In what non-work environments are you highly engaged?
2. What professional roles or jobs have you done your best work?
3. What help, advice, or qualities do others come to you for?
4. What would you want said about you in your eulogy?
5. When have you been disengaged in a personal or professional setting, and what was happening then?
6. What qualities in other people do you struggle with the most?

Listeners are encouraged to write down their answers, identify recurring keywords, and group these keywords into thematic categories.

Robert Glazer [09:20]: "Write out your answers to the six questions, putting each on its own sheet of paper. Then identify keywords or phrases that appear in your responses."

Developing and Validating Themes

After identifying keywords, Glazer advises grouping them by similarity and labeling each group with an emerging theme. These themes are then subjected to the Core Validator questions to ensure they are robust core values.

Robert Glazer [10:30]: "Once you've grouped your keywords and labeled them with themes, apply the Core Validator to each theme to finalize your core values."

Implementing Core Values

Road Testing Core Values

Glazer emphasizes the importance of integrating core values into daily life and business operations. He suggests practical steps such as:

• Visibility: Displaying the core values in prominent places like a workspace.
• Feedback: Sharing the values with trusted individuals for their input.
• Decision-Making: Referencing the core values when making important decisions to ensure alignment.

Robert Glazer [12:00]: "Write down your list and keep it somewhere you'll see every day, such as your desk at work."

Challenges in Living Core Values

Glazer acknowledges that adhering to core values can be challenging, often requiring difficult and emotionally taxing decisions. He shares a personal anecdote to illustrate the importance of staying true to one's values, even when it leads to uncomfortable situations.

Robert Glazer [15:45]: "Living your core values is not always easy or painless. Sometimes it requires us to make difficult decisions that have a real financial or emotional cost."

Personal Anecdote: Values Misalignment

Glazer recounts an experience where he faced a core values misalignment with a friend's parents, leading to a tense situation involving his child. This story highlights the real-world implications of not adhering to core values and reinforces the necessity of making value-driven decisions.

Robert Glazer [16:30]: "Once, our child's friends' parents had a values mismatch with ours, leading to a stressful situation. It taught us the importance of maintaining our core values consistently."

Omar's Takeaways

After Robert's comprehensive lesson, Omar shares his personal experience with core values in his business endeavors. He explains how knowing and adhering to core values allows The $100 MBA Show to maintain its brand integrity by selectively partnering with individuals and organizations that align with their values.

Omar Zenhom [17:20]: "If anybody has a whiff of get rich quick, we can't have them on the show. That's not our brand. That's not what we stand for."

Omar highlights that core values simplify decision-making processes, enabling quick and consistent alignment without extensive deliberation.

Omar Zenhom [18:10]: "When you know your core values, you can just say, hey, does this match the core values? No, it doesn't, or yes, it does."

He reinforces the idea that soft skills, such as understanding and living by core values, are significant differentiators in business, often outweighing technical skills like finance and marketing.

Omar Zenhom [19:50]: "When you start growing your business, the thing that really differentiates you from the competition is those things, is those soft skills. What you stand for. That's what makes your brand unique."

Conclusion and Resources

Omar concludes the episode by urging listeners to embrace their core values as essential elements for personal growth and business success. He directs interested listeners to additional resources, including Robert Glazer's course and book, for further guidance on aligning life and business with core values.

Robert Glazer [16:50]: "Discovering and aligning to your core values has the potential to take your life and leadership to the next level."

Key Takeaways

1. Core Values Define Your Business Identity: They attract the right customers and talent while guiding decision-making.
2. Identification Process: Utilize the Core Validator and behavioral questions to uncover and refine core values.
3. Implementation: Integrate core values into daily operations and decision-making processes to ensure alignment.
4. Challenges: Staying true to core values may require making tough decisions, but it's essential for long-term success.
5. Soft Skills Matter: Core values and other soft skills are crucial differentiators that enhance brand uniqueness and business sustainability.

Resources Mentioned

• Robert Glazer's Courses and Book:
  • Core Values Course: www.corevaluescourse.com
  • Book: Elevate: www.robertglazer.com

By understanding and implementing the strategies shared by Robert Glazer in this episode, entrepreneurs and business leaders can build stronger, value-driven organizations that stand out in the marketplace and foster lasting success.