Is profitability a core value? Profitability is a laudable business goal and I’m all for profits. But defining profitability as a core value can lead to unintended consequences. In this episode of By Your Life, we talk about cultivating a values-centered culture at work and personally cultivating a Christ-centered heart.

Mass Readings Audio
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_07_12.mp3

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 12, 2020

Welcome to the one hundred and twentieth episode of By Your Life. I’m Lisa Huetteman and I know that you have a hundred different things you could be doing right now, so I thank you for choosing By Your Life.

My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular business world. It’s my desire to help you live our Catholic faith in the marketplace. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.

In this edition, we’ll reflect on the readings for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A). In our Gospel reading, we heard the Parable of the Sower. Jesus tells the people about a sower who went out to sow, and as he sowed, “some seed fell on the path” (Mt 13:4), “some fell on rocky ground” (Mt 13:5) “some seed fell among thorns” (Mt 13:7), but “some seed fell on rich soil” (Mt 13:8) and depending on where the seed landed, “birds came and ate it up” (Mt 13:4) or “when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots” (Mt 13:6) or “the thorns grew up and choked it” (Mt 13:7) or it “produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” (Mt 13:8) The seed was the same, the difference was the soil.

That leads me to ask, how’s your soil? How is the soil in which your company culture is cultivated? How is the soil of your heart, in which the word of God is received?

The Path

Jesus said, “The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.” (Mt 13:19) In my work with companies who wanted to develop a values-centered culture, there have been several times I’ve encountered “the path”. That is, I’ve been challenged by members of the leadership team who fought the process. Some were vocally opposed, and others were just passive-aggressive. Regardless, they just didn’t get it and they were not willing to learn and change.

One client engagement that didn’t last long was with a family-owned business. The owner’s personal desires and those of his children were totally out of alignment with the needs of the company. None of the family members liked working in the business. They were only there to get their paychecks so they could feed their lifestyles. Some of them routinely came in late if they came in at all. When they were there, they pretty much did whatever they wanted. Despite their sloppy work ethic, each sibling felt they were doing more than the next, polluting the workplace with incessant bickering.

For several weeks I struggled to work with the owner and his “leadership team” to discern a common vision and shared values. Unfortunately, values that would benefit both the organization and the individual family members—such as integrity, service, teamwork, or quality—didn’t get much traction. At one point the owner blurted out in frustration, “We have no values!”

Actually, they did value one thing: profitability. Not organizational profitability, but personal profitability. They all had dreams of a big payday when they could sell the business at a huge profit and each share in the inheritance. Meanwhile, their selfish attitudes and dysfunctional behaviors were damaging the morale of the entire organization, resulting in high employee turnover, poor product quality, and less-than-stellar financial performance. But none of them were willing to listen, nor could they understand that they were the problem.

Rocky Ground

I worked with a professional services firm that had been experiencing lackluster results. They engaged me to facilitate a strategic planning process to help get the firm back on track. When I conducted my discovery, it became evident that the divisive behaviors of a couple of employees were infecting the rest of the staff like a cancer and the firm’s bottom line was suffering.

The managing partner was already aware of the problem and had spoken to the two people but couldn’t take disciplinary action because they hadn’t done anything illegal and they were achieving their productivity goals. When I asked about the firm’s core values, he replied. “We don’t have any.”

The firm, like most professional services firms, was driven by increasing billable hours and focused solely on productivity goals without defining acceptable behaviors and holding each other accountable. So, I worked with the partners and the staff to identify the shared core values of the firm upon which the vision and mission were defined and would become the principles to guide their daily decisions and behaviors. The initial results were very positive and even the two divisive employees were on board and making positive behavior changes.

But then, under pressure to fill a vacancy, the partner decided to hire someone who lied about their current employment status, which was a violation of the firm’s core value of honesty. He justified his decision by saying he understood why someone would want to lead you to believe they were still employed when they had been laid off. But, by compromising on the firm’s core values, he sent a message that billable hours were still the #1 priority, undermining the positive changes underway.

Jesus said, “The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away.” (Mt 13:20-21) For this firm, billable hours, however achieved, were the rocks in the way of cultivating a values-centered culture.

Thorns

When I interviewed CEOs for my book, The Value of Core Values, I encountered a few executives whose values included profitability, but is profitability a core value? Profitability is a laudable business goal. Without profits, a company cannot continue to serve its customers, employ its people, reward its investors, and contribute to its community. I’m all for profits. But defining profitability as a core value can lead to problems. When a company faces difficult decisions that impact profits, the core value of profitability will trump their other core values every time.

Jesus said, “The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit.” (Mt 13:22) The pursuit of short-term profitability at the expense of other core values are thorns that choke the long-term growth of a business because it impacts relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, and the communities in which it lives.

By definition, values reflect what you believe is “right,” not merely what you think is “profitable.” If you try to live core values based on their profitability, you will toss them overboard whenever they seem to be “unreasonable” or “impractical.” Disposable core values are not really core values at all. They’re simply policies, and somewhat flexible ones at that. True core values, on the other hand, are beyond compromise. They are so fundamentally a part of your company’s identity that you will not deviate from them—ever!

Rich Soil

Positive core values must be cultivated. The CEO, with the collaboration and buy-in of other leaders within the organization, must take responsibility for defining, sharing, institutionalizing, and honoring them. They must do the necessary work to till the soil of their organizations to make it fertile. In fact, I would argue that cultivating core values—first individually and then organizationally—is the primary responsibility of every leader in an organization.

In my book, The Value of Core Values, successful CEOs shared their perspective of the value of core values. Their businesses represent a number of different industries. Some are small and others are relatively large; some are privately owned, while others are publicly traded. Nevertheless, all these leaders share one thing in common: In spite of typical fears and struggles, which they readily acknowledged, they have remained firmly committed to their values.

Jesus said, “The seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” (Mt 13:23) But, does adherence to core values always result in maximum profits? The CEOs who shared their stories with me acknowledged that sometimes it doesn’t—at least in the short term.  But all these leaders talked about the non-monetary rewards of living their core values. Several called these intangible benefits “priceless.” Sleeping well at night, having the satisfaction of knowing you’ve done the right thing, receiving a Christmas card from a difficult customer you’ve treated as you would like to be treated, or experiencing the joy of introducing a person to Christ—these are all practical examples of priceless rewards.

Although I believe that living core values promotes maximum business success—and my definition of business success includes profitability—I’ve observed that organizations that benefit most from living their core values tend to define success in light of their values. They’re working for rewards that are substantially greater than profitability alone. The greatest value of core values is ultimately in the values themselves.

Hardness of Heart

But not everyone understands this concept. Not everyone lives a values-centered life. We don’t have to look far to find people whose egos get in their way. They are hardened by their limiting beliefs and are unwilling to listen, learn, and change. Self-righteousness and pride harden their hearts to the truth that offers an opportunity for growth.

Stumbling Blocks

We all have rocks we cling to that keep us from making positive changes in our lives. I heard a story about a young man who was witnessing to a fraternity brother about how Jesus had changed his life. The friend asked him, “If I follow Jesus, can I still hang out in bars and chase women?” The young man responded, “As much as you want to.”, knowing that accepting Jesus will change the desires of your heart.

We all have bad habits, addictions, or toxic relationships that we are attached to that keep us from deepening our relationships with Christ. When some tribulation comes we fall away because our faith has no roots. (Mt 13:21)

Choked by Weeds

Or, we live our lives chasing after worldly riches or troubled by the cares of this world. Our priorities are not rightly ordered with God as #1 and when riches don’t satisfy or our troubles materialize, we forget the One who loved us into being and from whom all good things come.

Jesus warns that “To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” (Mt 13:12) The one who does not accept the revealed mystery, God will take it away.

Tilling your Soil

Just as the farmer prepares his land for planting in the spring, we must do the work necessary to make our hearts ready to receive God’s Word, Jesus. It takes effort to pull weeds, remove rocks and break the hardened soil of our hearts. Prayer, frequent reception of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist, and the grace of forgiven sin fertilize our hearts so God can work in us and through us.

The Prophet Isaiah said, “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (Is 55:11) And so, if we want to glorify the Lord by our lives, we just need to prepare our hearts to receive the Word, and God will do the rest.

So, this week, till your soil and God will bless you abundantly and you will glorify the Lord by your life.

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