This week I am speaking with a group of local church pastors about Values and diving deep on the worth of an articulated, inspiring set of values. For clarity proponents like those of us at Auxano , Values are a critical piece of the Vision Frame and answer question Why about the mission. Why are we doing it? We call values the Missional Motivators, or the burning flame inside our organization that guide our actions and filter our decisions.

As I have prepared for these sessions, and having been inspired by his talk at Catalyst East last week, I have been reading Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why.” If you have never seen this TED talk from Simon, it is pretty much awesome. And also gives you a great overview of the central principles of the book.

During October on the blog, I will be walking through Simon’s book and filtering it within the clarity context of the local church. I believe The Why that he talks about directly relates to these motivators or values that a church operates around. They are the beliefs that guide the decision making. And The Why is what connects, inspires and engages the hearts of people. 

To be simple… People do not connect with a church because of it’s mission, they connect because of it’s values.

To be blunt… People do not connect with a church because of it’s values.

The Why can be stated or unstated.  Values exist one way or the other. Great leaders cultivate the positive and cut-out the negative.

The Why can actual or aspirational.  Integrity is built around the actual. Inspiration is found in the aspirational. Great organizations have both integrity and inspiration in harmony.

The Why can be exciting or boring. Most often they are boring. Great movements are born from people living out contagious, exciting values.

I am looking forward to discovering more and sharing with you. For now let’s wrap with this thought discovery from Simon Sinek:

“What you do simply serves as the proof of what you believe.”

What do you need to start or stop doing and what are the beliefs or stated values that will guide that change?