Articulating Firm Values

Law firm values should be broad, enduring principles that drive decisions. Choose values that are broad enough to apply to different situations and decisions. Choose values that differentiate.

Some values are “table stakes,” meaning they are values assumed by anyone who does business and need not be stated because they do not differentiate you. Costco’s value of “obey the law” is this type. You may decide that you do not need to list such a value and should concentrate on something more idiosyncratic.

Choose values that drive decision: who should work with you; how should you work with each other; how should you work with vendors, suppliers, customers, and the community; what do you want out of the transaction and how will people and the environment be afterward; or what interest should help decide between two services if you can only offer one? Select three to eight values.

To reflect on your values in action, consider as a manager what attitude or behavior would get someone fired. It has been said you are hired for your resume and fired for your attitude. Will your organization fire people for behavior or attitude, and how will you determine attitude without looking at behavior?

Some organizations’ values include Seattle University, U.S. Army, Target, Walmart, Schwab, Vanguard, Boeing, Costco, Home Depot, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft.

Well-drafted values often have the short version, the sentence version, and the long version. The short version is the one or two-word shorthand. The sentence version puts the value in context. The long version may say in a paragraph or a story how the value is put into action or is recognized.

Your values should reflect your base strategy. You cannot effectively espouse values that are in conflict with your base strategy and branding.