Values
“Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.”
―
Netcentric Campaigns culture, staff, and Board operations are rooted in five core values summarized as Supportive, Professional, Innovative, Cheerful, and Empathetic (SPICE). These values shape our work, guide the prioritization of our actions, and our projects. They give tone to the ways we work in pursuit of our mission.
The post is part of a series of pages focused on communicating the core values of Netcentric Campaigns (Supportive | Professional | Innovative | Cheerful | Empathetic). To learn more about the role of values at Netcentric Campaigns you can read on. You can also participate in the online meeting and discussions of our values, give us ideas about how your expect these values to come to life, or fill out a survey to provide feedback for the team and our Board so we can continue to improve.
We work building networks. We approach work in a unique set of ways. We often are pulled into issues that are facing problems that no single organization can solve. We are working to support network builders and help unleash network effects that can drive social change. In our experiences, the success of work on important issues correlates with the strength of the networks working the issues. Network success causes progress in moving an issue. Done well, networks create bonds and ties across movements. Networks open new pathways for innovation, better use of resources, great works, and aligned mobilizations of people.
There are valid reasons issue work becomes fractured. People focus on different aspects of a problem or different paths to solutions. They approach work with opposing objectives, values, and priorities. The competitive tensions are both the strength of network organizing and its Achilles heel. Our experience suggests that approaching network building requires a deft touch.
We bring a set of perspectives into the wicked work of network building. We have condensed the insights of our particular approach to network building into a few mottos which we find as effective reminders:
- Be available, be useful, be unnoticed.
- Nail the details and be diplomatic.
- Keep trying. Never settle. Be adaptive.
- Bring a smile and an uplifting spirit.
- See with the eyes and ears of others. Create compassion.
Each motto also reflects one of our core values. The values that shape our habits and everything we do. Our values drive our work with fellows, clients, vendors, Board members, and projects. We strive to align current and future operational partners with these values. We work on these to maintain the culture, direction, course, brand, and conscientious approach in all we do.
Values Shape Habits
Values shape the way we work. What examples do you see? Reflect on ways our values shape our work.
Discuss
Set up a call to talk about the ways you see values shaping your work, movements, or the organization.
What do the values do for us?
Culture is a reflection of what is valued and the ways things are done. As we build ad hoc teams, distributed across geography, time, and issue focus, we create the Netcentric Campaigns culture through a focus on the values we bring to the work, and the process we use.
We focus on both the steps of network management and the values needed to make the work successful. Our process and steps to building networks are continually improved but we have learned simply getting the mechanics right is not sufficient. Network building also requires animating values that breathe vibrancy into networks. Those values are part of the experience of the network and therefore shape outcomes and success.
Values inspire us. They strengthen us in times of doubt. They guide us. Working by them brings us joy and sticking to them is the core of our reputation. These values reflect our way of wanting to be in the world. Other values are selected because they are effective and they are demanded by the work.
Read more about each value on the links above.
What do we do with our values?
We talk about them. We align our staff, Board, partners, projects, and teams by them. We gladly offer internal and external discussions focused on them. We celebrate them. We test them. We defend them. We make them part of regular operations and rituals. The values give tone to the ways we work in pursuit of our mission. We are proud of these values.
Values Influence our Partners, Fellows, Vendors, Staff, and Board Selections.
- We share them on our website to find people and partners that are compelled by the same or similar values.
- We review them during introduction and orientation work.
- We offer insight into the values to help people decide if our values mesh with theirs and with their goals.
- We look for clues that people we work with have similar goals and values and ask about them in the interview process.
- We treat people we work with by our values through the entire process.
Values Influence our work.
- We choose work that adheres to our values (if we can't be empathetic or cheerful we can't do the work).
- We propose interventions consistent with them.
- We coach on the ways they play out and why they are important.
- We talk about them and seek ways that the people we work with interpret them and expect them to show up both internally and externally.
- We ask “what do these values mean to the team?”
- They shape our traditions and rituals. We celebrate them, reward them, and remember when they change our work, and how they affect our practice.
We recognize they are not the only values. They are not better values than the values that others use in other work. They are important to us but we are not suggesting other values should be less important to other people. They are foundational to the consistency of our brand experience. Our values have been tested and honed by 20 years of experience. We are driven by many of the same passions of those we serve. We also know that our niche and contribution come from bridging people to each other and our values keep us in the right lane for supporting networks and network builders.
Please review the discussions of the values and spend a few minutes on each thinking about these values and how you would expect to see them unfold in relationships with partners or coworkers. Share your reflections here. We share ideas and feedback with the team and review some submitted comments during our online discussions of the values.