What if I told you that values are something that will get you the best core team for your business?

Last week, the team chatted about diving deeper into our core values and we decided to explore one every week! 

The idea of this was to get us even better connected with our values so that we could live them in all the work we do.

The first value deep dive was assigned to our Agent of Awesome, Musab. He ended up choosing to discuss “Perpetuating Goodness”. This is what he said on our facebook group:

“Everybody has an internal moral compass that defines our values, either good or bad. While the subjective nature of good or bad might be debatable from a philosophical point of view, the reality of it demands a clearer line to be drawn and not in the sand. 

I believe the unwavering belief system coupled with empathy can serve as a great personal rule to keep your morality in check when it comes to core values. Only then can we, as individuals, hope to perpetuate goodness in the world, both personally and professionally. In a world rife with conflict, where lines are getting blurred by the day and compasses are changing course overnight, staying true to your values can serve as a reminder of purpose.

The reason I love The Sponge’s narrative to perpetuate goodness is that it’s not just a hollow corporate value for appearances. The three impact models are actually helping in shaping the world to be a better place, one business at a time.”

He ended by asking what the rest of us thought, and it got my brain working… and reminiscing.

To sum it up short, I believe that Perpetuating Goodness is to courageously impact the world and make it into a better place. And we do this even if the rest of the world doesn’t. 

It’s about being brave enough to stand up against the status quo. And helping others unconditionally. It’s that notion of fearlessness, of absolute resolution to stand against the tide. And do your part to help the world, no matter how scary or impossible the task seems. 

How values made my work flourish…

These feelings I have more or less sum me up as a person. Growing up I had a strong moral compass. I guess if we really wanted to put a name to it, I’d say it would be Neutral Good. 

While this was great and all, it also posed one problem.

I could not work or do anything that didn’t have a cause. 

In school, I wasn’t too great at maths or sports for that matter. I wasn’t even too great at the essay writing required to excel in English class. I wasn’t dumb or anything. It was the fact that I didn’t feel any drive or passion in these subjects. 

I felt absolutely nothing and I constantly found myself wondering what the purpose of this all was. 

Fast forward to University and my areas of study came to be International Relations and Security. 

And everything changed.

Whatever essay writing skills teachers thought I didn’t have in highschool, suddenly broke through to the surface. I excelled and did my absolute best with great marks.

But why?

It’s because I believed I was making a difference. Doing my degree at the time we had various opportunities to help with security issues. Some of which even saw the brightest of us meeting UN officials. 

There were pathways and opportunities to work for a cause. And I loved it. 

I wanted to learn and to write because I knew it was for good. 

I ended up getting my first volunteer job, the Social Media Coordinator for the Centre of Peace and Conflict studies. I was elated, my job was me teaching others of peace and conflict events in the international community, it was perfect for me.

Then we hit a snag

After my degree ended, I knew I had to get into the real world. I applied for a few jobs and got one. 

But I soon quickly realised that it was barren.

I was told to change my writing style. I was told to plug sponsors and write in a way in which the only end goal was to get people’s money. 

I was given topics I didn’t care about. 

And I was ordered to market to the rich. 

The product wasn’t even great. We had a lot of complaints about it being a waste of time and money. 

But to the company, it didn’t matter as long as they raked in the profits. I hated it. 

I became miserable at work. I didn’t want to go in. And I cried so often because I wondered if my life was always going to be like this. Was I to write soul-less pieces in which the ultimate goal was not to educate but to sell a lacklustre product to the rich? Mind you, the product was designed to help the rich become richer so I wasn’t helping a community who needed me either. 

Along came The Sponge

I ended up quitting. I took a small holiday to recharge and realign myself then went back to job hunting. 

I don’t know if it was meant to be or something. But the week I quit, my friend sent me a job advertisement.

A company called The Sponge was seeking a “Social Media Rockstar”. I looked at their website and saw how much they cared. At the time the words “Perpetuate Goodness” stood out to me the most.

And in return my heart replied “Yes! That’s me, that’s what I want to do!”

So I applied and the rest is history. 

Here lies the pattern…

If we go back and take a look, we can spot a pattern.

• There was no drive or passion felt in high school.
• There was passion in university because what I studied aligned with my values.
• There was ZERO drive in my corporate job because it didn’t align.
• There is immense love for my job at The Sponge. Because their goal is to help positively impact the world by help all brands be good for the world. They also care about values. They care about their employees. Oh, and they’re a proud B Corporation… honestly the list could go on.

Do you see a pattern here?

Values enabled me to do the best of what I was doing at the time. When values were aligned, I felt supported and had that innate drive to accomplish. 

And in these examples I shared, the need to perpetuate goodness permeated them all. 

That is why values are so important. They attract like-minded people to your team. And those people will help your vision flourish because they believe in the same cause as you do. 

What are your values?