You’ve set your company’s core values, now live by them

In this guest post, Tracy Young, CEO and co-founder at TigerEye, discusses the importance of creating a set of core values and challenges leaders to live by them. TigerEye finds revenue risks and opportunities in your sales pipeline so you can make good decisions and move faster.

The biggest challenge I encountered as a first-time entrepreneur was that I didn’t hire or fire by our core values at PlanGrid. We had them, but we didn’t live by them. Let me give you an example: we had a core value that said we wouldn’t hire jerks, except that I did hire them and, worse, kept them. And what that signaled to the team was that if you perform for me, you can get away with anything.

And so this is just one example of what we’re doing differently at TigerEye. Our core values are defined, and we have a document of commitments to one another that clarifies them in black and white. And these ten commitments help to keep us all centered on what is important. For example, one of our commitments to each other is that I will not speak negatively or destructively about anyone, especially never behind someone’s back.

TigerEye is a remote-first company. Ten years ago, while at PlanGrid, I wouldn’t have believed it was possible to run a company remotely, but a worldwide lockdown showed me that a better quality of work and life could be achieved that way. With good communication architecture and well-defined rules of engagement, decisions can be made quickly on Zoom or a phone call. Obviously, some professions, like construction or manufacturing, need to have certain people on the ground and offices due to hands-on responsibilities. But lots of people are working remotely, so I’m also looking for excellent communication skills down to the emails that are coming back to me. Can you stay present as you hear my questions and answer them simply? Those are really important skills beyond the technical interview.

I am sharing TigerEye’s core values here in hopes that it inspires every company to define them—and live by them.

TigerEye’s Core Values

Wholehearted – Life is hard, even for the most fortunate of us. Building a company while living life will be challenging. The best we can do is to be wholehearted in everything we do. Be wholehearted in our personal lives. Be wholehearted when we are working. When we split our hearts into multiple pieces in multiple directions, we will get overwhelmed and be mediocre at everything.

Humility – We are all excellent at something, and we are all amateurs at most things. There is no room for ego and arrogance. We are all here to build TigerEye and to create value for each other, our customers, and the world. Celebrate our wins as a team.

Kaizen – This is a Japanese philosophy that means “change for the better” or “continuous improvement.” We practice Kaizen every day in our product, our company, and in ourselves.

Trust – Trust is everything. Without trust, we could not function as a team. Without trust, we cannot build a great product and legendary business. Work from a place of trust in each other. Trust that we can have the hard conversations with our teammates and not be judged. Do everything we can to protect the trust that has been given to us. Walk it like you talk it.

Simplicity – Simplicity is beautiful and can be revolutionary. Strive for simplicity in our product, in our processes, and in the way we organize as a team. Communicate simply, write like you talk.
In this leadership series on the OpenSpace Blog, we feature perspectives from our customers, partners, and other industry luminaries.