Contemplation would make a good life, keep it strict, only
The eyes of a desert skull drinking the sun,
Too intense for flesh, lonely
Exultations of white bone;
Pure action would make a good life; let it be sharp-
Set between the throat and the knife.
A man who knows death by heart
Is the man for that life
In pleasant peace and security
How suddenly the soul in a man begins to die.
He shall look up above the stalled oxen
Envying the cruel falcon,
And dig under the straw for a stone
To bruise himself on.

Robinson Jeffers

Famous as an outdoors man, you can easily see how Robinson Jeffers' writing matched the values of someone like Yvon Chouinard. He quotes this poem in his book 'Let My People Go Surfing' which focusses on values.

What books or films do you particularly relate to because the values espoused in them match your own? For me I would list Gladiator (strength and leadership), Dead Poet's Society (difference) and Take the Lead (grace and flow) as well as the book of My Family and Other Animals (learning and enjoying being outdoors) which I re-read many times as a kid. What about you?

Yvon Chouinard, the founder and owner of patagonia believes his staff should be allowed to go surfing whenever they want. Even in work time.

Reading his book, "Let My People Go Surfing", gives an account of his history and the story of the founding of his company but is also a discussion of the philosophies of the company - the values as it were.

Chouinard has always been an outdoor person, into all manner of adventurous pursuits and he wants his people to be able to enjoy them too. He feels that people should be free to take an afternoon off if the surf is up or there's powder snow on the mountains, partly because he enjoys that too but also because he wants people to be happy in their work, that his company should be somewhere that it is easy to come to work.

Increasingly this is a way forward for companies who want to give their employees flexibility. Get your work done but do it wherever and whenever you please. It doesn't happen by accident though - it is so counter-cultural that it must be a deliberate choice by the management. Although when Chouinard says, "Why on earth would anyone run a company that was hard to work for?", you do think he has a valid point that makes business sense.

Others don't see it that way though, because they have different values. Chouinard's personal values and attitudes have stuck with the company, ever since he founded it, and so the values of the corporate body, which employees are expected to buy into, are mainly around the concepts of looking after people and the environment, being nice people to do business with.

Hard not to agree with them and so many people want to work for him and he has the pick of potential workers who will fit in well.

When you think about your own organisation, can you clearly identify the corporate  values? If you can, how well do they match your own personal ideals? If they don't match very well, how well do you cope with the stress that this produces and what are you doing to make things better?

Contact me if you want some coaching help to improve things, or download the values pack to help determine what is important for you.