Differentiate

"What can be more a man’s own than this new name which even in eternity remains a secret between God and him? And what shall we take this secrecy to mean? Surely, that each of the redeemed shall forever know and praise some one aspect of the divine beauty better than any other creature can."
C.S. Lewis

We are not only uniquely created, we are uniquely created for a purpose.  Offering what is unique or particular about us is part of how God is known.  It is one of the ways He is most glorified and how His nature is more comprehensively understood.  Because of the power our unique identity possesses, it is also incredibly assaulted.

When Steven Pressfield talks about our enemy, the devil, he refers to it as the “resistance”.  He says this about our unique identity.

“Resistance’s goal is not to wound or disable.  Resistance aims to kill.  Its target is the epicenter of our being: our genius, our soul, the unique and priceless gift we were put on earth to give and that no one else has but us.  Resistance means business.  When we fight it, we are in a war to the death.”

If we were placed here to glorify God and make him known through offering our unique identity, it should come as no surprise to us that it is a particular point of our enemy’s assault.

Interesting enough, we experience that same tension with the businesses we coach.  We believe that organizations are intended to uniquely represent the heart and glory of God in the way they operate, as well.  There is a unique set of personalities, experiences, and ways of doing business that should also point to the unique aspects of God’s nature and heart for His people.

Given the assault against unique identity, it should not surprise any of us that most companies pull their values from a fairly consistent list:

• honest
• integrity
• trust
• passionate
• positive
• committed
• hard working
• reliable
• loyal
• etc.

Our belief, however, is that core values should differentiate you from all other companies in your field.  It should be the particular set of things you value that shapes your decision making, determines resource allocation, decides who you hire, reward, and fire.  It is the set of things that differentiates you in the marketplace and helps protect and preserve what is unique about your company.  It is also the way you make God known.

Here are some examples we recently helped create:

• hyperlocal, trusted, memorable country music, care
• better together, story of one, why, intentionally Kingdom focused, around the table
• team, coaching, restoration, stewardship, adding value

These real sets of core values, completely differentiate their organizations from every other one in their respective fields.  When you talk to team members about these values, they elicit excitement, provide motivation, and have them calling forth stories that illustrate and prove their reality.

That is kind of the point, right?

• Do you have established core values?
• Do they differentiate you from others in your industry?
• Do they elicit excitement & provide motivation?  Are you able to back them with real examples?
• Do they offer a unique aspect of the glory and nature of God?