Identifying and strengthening core values

An organization that identifies and behaves in alignment with a set of core values that are widely shaped by its employees and derived from its history can build a deep sense of community. Consequences of deep community are greater levels of trust and organizational commitment that can, in turn, be harnessed to help the organization more successfully adapt to and cope with future challenges. However, to be successful, an organization needs to go beyond mere espousal of core values and make a sustained and systematic effort to take practical steps to strengthen both the core values and the behaviors that generally flow from them.