Do You Know Your Core Values with Robert Glazer

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here, and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by High Level Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Today we'll be breaking down your core values. To drop these value bombs, I have brought Robert Glazer into EO Fire Studios. Robert is the founder and chairman of the board of Acceleration Partners, a global leader in partnership marketing. He also co-founded and chaired Brand Cycle, which was acquired by Stack Commerce back in 2021. A serial entrepreneur and award-winning executive, Robert is passionate about helping individuals and organizations elevate their performance.

0:36And today, Fire Nation will talk about the personal core values, some hard data, the four necessary qualities of good core values, family, integrity, and oh so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Robert and our sponsors. Are you ready for the ultimate all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies? Build funnels, automate follow-ups, manage clients, and even white-label your own software. Say hello to our featured partner, HighLevel, and visit HighLevelFire.com to start your free trial today. Fun fact, Shopify is the e-commerce platform behind 10 % of all e-commerce in the U.S., from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started.

1:23If you want to see less carts being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your$1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com slash on fire.

1:37Robert, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. So first of all, thanks for having me. Excited to be here. And I think like being successful involves a lot of quitting. And this will tie to what we're going to talk about today. But I think figuring out the things that you should stop doing and quit that you don't care about, I think a lot of people's biggest successes lie right behind quitting something that was a dead end. Fire Nation, this episode is not a dead end. In fact, we're going to talk about do you know your core values?

2:18Now, Robert, one thing that you believe is that personal core values are misunderstood and often overlooked. Tell us more about that. Yeah. So similar to company core values, and this is different. I think they're misunderstood. A lot of people, A, don't know what they are. If I asked a room of a hundred people typically and said, do you know what your personal core values are? Probably half would say no, maybe 40, 45 would say, oh, I have an idea or I thought of them, but they'll have something like integrity or family or some one word thing. And one or two people will say, oh, I have a written list of core values.

2:52And I think those people are operating in a different place. So I think we're used to a lot of these platitudes, these kind of one word things that all sound the same versus things that really understand who we are at our core, why we make decisions and that we can use as a decision-making rubric. They're not aspirational. If you look back, they should be things that have been kind of driving your life, whether you were realizing it or not. Now, a lot of our listeners are entrepreneurs. They're small business owners. They're leaders. and you believe that personal core values are especially important for leaders to at least understand.

3:29Why is that the case? If you understand what's important, the company core values are usually a dotted line to the founder or leader's core values. So a lot of people know them, but they just can't express them. And if you're actually, I would say, here is what I value, then you're able to tie, loosely tie company values to that, tie policies. When I ran my company, you know, respectful authenticity is, is one of my personal core values. And we did a bunch of things that were different about how we treated people. And I had this Ted talk on, and a book on rethinking two weeks notice. And I realized yours, I'm like, oh, that was a direct connection to my belief.

4:05And like, how do we, how do we be more authentic with people and direct, but how do we be more respectful and sort of led to how do we change how people leave the workplace? So you want, you know, you're going to create a company that's modeled in your image. The question is, do you have the understanding to communicate that? Or are you just navigating that via frustration or hitting an electric fence and coming away from it? I think our core values really drive us. I think about that analogy of when you're learning how to drive and there are two steering wheels in the car. The question is, are you driving the steering wheel or is someone else driving that other wheel and you just don't realize it?

4:42What was the big takeaway from rethinking two weeks notice? Big takeaway was that the way people leave companies these days makes no sense. We're not in the life. We act like it's a breakup of a relationship rather than kind of the end of a sports contract. And we're in a world of not lifetime employment and pensions anymore. And even in the best companies in the world, we know people are going to stay 18 months or 24 months. So can we just create a less, you know, can we create a better way for people to leave that's less conflicting and controversial and just recognize they're not going to work here forever and offer them an off-ramp that works for the company and that works for them.

5:19I mean, there's a lot of people listening right now that are listening because they're looking to give their two-week notice to their company. They're looking to become an entrepreneur, a small business owner, whatever that might look like for them. What's just maybe one or two things that you would put into their mind they should be thinking about leading up to that? Yeah, look, their values could probably tell them why they want to leave the current company you know, why it doesn't align with kind of who they are at their core and what they want to do. So that, that clarity could be really helpful in both ways in terms of, you know, should I leave, you know, is this place connected to what I believe in and what I want to do and what do I want to do next?

5:55And to me, that's the ultimate kind of decision to leave. It's that two by two matrix of, um, do you like what you're doing and do you know what you want to do next? And if you don't like what you're doing and it's not aligned, you know what you want to do next, you should probably pull that trigger sooner rather than later. Now, you actually have some hard data that's about the importance of core values. What is that hard data and what does it tell us? I think a lot of people think of this core values as a softer thing, but the data is pretty compelling. So nearly half of employees in the US and the UK say they're leaving their company.

6:29They're considering leaving it because it doesn't exemplify their personal values. More than half, almost 60%, wouldn't even consider a job if the values didn't match. And interestingly, Gallup also did a study and said that employees who perceive that there's strong alignment between their values and those of their organization are almost 60 % more engaged in work. That's a pretty huge difference. And there's also a lot of data about people trust leaders who are leading from their values. One of the things I talk about values is it's a decision-making rubric. It helps you make better decisions.

7:06You're really clear, you know, with, with what you should do in cases. And, you know, there's some data out of UCLA and Angela Duckworth around, like, if you have a stress inducing task or you need to make a decision, you have better performance. If you have clarity on your values, you have better disciplines. And that's not a surprise. Again, I think for me that the number one reason to have your values is this decision making rubric. And as I talk about in the new book, The Compass Within, this notion of the big three, which is your partnership, your relationship, your community, and then your work and vocation.

7:43If you want those things to work out, you are going to need to have core values alignment. Now, you believe that there are four necessary qualities of a good core value. What's the first? So let's talk about just one thing, like one word, core values. I know we'll talk about that in the middle, why they don't work. And this is specifically why. Well, we'll deal with qualities and then we'll answer that. So the first is a constant non-negotiable principle. So it should show up in all areas of your life. You should see it in your family. You should see it in your friends. You should see it in your relationships.

8:19It's not some people try to do work ones and home ones. And when they really get the right one, they realize, oh, I'm the same person in all of these places. The second is really, it's got to have a distinct definition and point of view. It's got to describe something unique about you. It shouldn't be something that could apply to anyone. We'll talk about integrity in a minute. And then I really think core values need to be a two to five word phrase rather than just a single word. You kind of need it to be specific. You need it to be action oriented. That's hard in a single word. phrases are much more descriptive and directional.

8:57And again, it helps you with that decision-making framework. You can look at your values and know what to do in that context. I have a value of respectful authenticity. I have a value of long-term orientation. I can kind of look at a decision and think about, oh, is this, am I doing something here for the long-term? Or is this, is this both authentic and respectful? As I mentioned before, that came right out of that two-week notice. And a lot of times, I've heard someone with include all perspectives. Great. I know exactly what to ask that person to do, and I know what not to do. When you get these kind of one-word values, they just don't meet that threshold.

9:33So I want to go through numbers three and four for the necessary qualities of a good core value. When we get back, I'm thanking our sponsors. Okay. Let's talk about a platform that's completely changing how entrepreneurs are running their business, and they are also our featured partner, HighLevel. If you're an entrepreneur, coach, agency, or course creator looking to grow faster and smarter, HighLevel is the all-in-one platform that replaces your entire tech stack. Seriously, think ClickFunnels, Calendly, MailChimp, Kajabi, and even your CRM all rolled up into one powerful white label solution.

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11:48If you want to see less cars being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your$1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com slash on fire. Go to shopify.com slash on fire. Shopify.com slash on fire. So Robert, we're back and we're kind of going through these four necessary qualities of a good core value. You've gone through the first few. Let's really bring those home. What are those full four? It's a constant non-negotiable principle, a distinct definition and point of view, a two to five word phrase and decision making framework. that will knock out a lot of things I think that people think as values, maybe like they have integrity or honesty or happiness or stuff like that.

12:35It just won't meet that definition. And therefore they won't be as helpful for them to make those important decisions. Now let's actually go through all four of these, but you walk us through them, talk us through them as you're actually playing out how you came up with your core values. Sure. So, you know, a constant non-negotiable principle. So my first, you know, and I'll touch on kind of each of these. My number one core value is to find a better way and share it. That's pretty consistent about how I show up in my family and with my kids around improvement and getting better. And we make a mistake, but we don't repeat a mistake.

13:13I'm always the person in work who's innovating. I'm the person, you know, a friend who calls because they want to figure out a better way to do something. I'm not your status quo person. And there's pros to that. And there's certainly cons to that. It can be a little exhausting for me and for other people. So that's, again, you should see it pretty consistently. What is a recent example of you implementing that, either with your family or at work? I'd say it's more with family. I won't get too specific, but a situation where my son, Uh, he, he kind of had something happen to him the first time and he got a little panicked.

13:52He thought he was getting sick and he kind of got himself sort of a little bit into, you know, a panic attack. And so when we talked, you know, about that afterwards, you know, one of the things I, you know, made a point of talking with her, Hey, look, but like, this is, this is what I've had this happen before. And this is a little bit what happens in these situations where we get ourselves all caught up. And you saw how, like, if you took a step back and you did the breathing and you kind of didn't think about the worst thing. So I'm very focused inherently in these situations around like what happens for next time?

14:20Like, how do we, how do we, how do we get through? How do we, you know, stuff happens. How do we learn about it and, and, and sort of do it better for next time? So I'm always kind of probably it drives them nuts, but I'm always coaching my kids on, Hey, what can we, what can we take? What's a lesson that we can take out of a failure or something happened where it happened, but how did we, we, you know, if it happens again, like we want to do better, we want to have a better orientation. So I don't tend to look back on spilt milk, but more of, hey, how do we use that as an opportunity to improve?

14:48Okay, what's another core value? So another core value of mine is self-reliance. And I can tell you, again, there's pros and cons. I am the type of person, I think if you should do it, you could do it yourself. I carry my own roller bag. I really don't like when people at hotels try to help me lift up my 24-inch roller. I'm just comfortable doing it. I will drive myself home from the hospital unless they tell me. And I have other people that I rely on in my life, but I, I think that you should, you should, you know, try to stand on your own two feet. I have always been independent. And as a result, again, for me, the opposite of that kryptonite is I struggle with people who are, who are very dependent and who are inherently dependent.

15:31It's just a, it's just a different oriented phrase. So all my kids went to overnight camp, you know, they all have jobs. Like we kind of similarly really pushed them on, on both physical and mental, you know, independence. Obviously we do a lot with them, but, um, I, I think that's one of the struggles today. And so that's, that's really important to myself and my wife. So decision making framework, like how does that play into self-reliance? So decision making framework would be like, Hey, I have this opportunity, um, and I could kind of, you know, you know, trust myself and my research or my team, or we'll end up being kind of dependent on someone else for this.

16:09And it'll be a little bit out of our control. I'm much more likely to default for the former where I feel like it's within my locus of control and orientation. And obviously, you know, you, you, you trust people and you delegate things. and I do that a lot. But that's sort of what it looks like, choosing to take control of situations rather than kind of leaving it up to external factors. Now, why are values like family and integrity not often effective? Both are one word, which we'll talk about. And two, different reasons. I do think a core value is consistent. So saying something like family, I think family is a priority for a lot of people, but you know, when you were 18 years old, a lot of these values were showing and your family probably wasn't a core value for you.

17:03I think what you're looking for is there's some way that you show up for your family. And there's some way that you act with your family that is consistent about how you show up with friends or otherwise. So maybe instead of family, it's like, you know, the most important or something about your most important relationship or be someone who shows up or do what you say you're going to do or be committed. Whatever the value is, it's probably consistent across that and your other aspects of your lives. And that's, to me, a value should transcend personal and professional and family. Integrity is one of those ones.

17:40It sounds great. It's kind of a table stakes. It's not super effective. I can't say like, oh, I was good integrity last month. I mean, I expect people to be integral. The other thing is, believe it or not, I've heard at least six definitions of integrity. Some people really believe it's about telling the truth or being honest. Other people believe it's about kind of showing up or say what you do and do what you say. Others might believe it's living your best life. So I think it's more important for the value to say what you mean, like always tell the truth or always show up or always say what you do, that's much more indicative of, of your definition of integrity and what's important to you.

18:19Um, again, in theory, these are supposed to be differentiating for you. And while yes, there are people that, that lie out there. I don't think any of us would say, um, you know, we really want to connect with someone who's unintegral. I think we're going to assume integrity as a baseline. So these are, this is how do you differentiate really what's, what's more important and what's differentiated for you? Um, you know, some, something for me, like a lot of people are short term oriented and they have to be, uh, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Um, but, but that, that longterm orientation I think is what makes me a little bit different from someone else.

18:54So how can we identify if we're out of alignment with our values? Because obviously at some point that's what we're going to do. We're going to push the boundaries. We're going to swerve left. We're going to swerve, right. How do I, how do we identify that? If something feels really unpleasant or draining, it's probably because it goes against a core value of yours. And the problem for most of us is I think that we know or feel our core values when they are violated. The problem is it's like if you're driving through a tunnel and there's a yellow lane in the tunnel and the lights are off, you're not going to see the yellow lane.

19:28You're going to hit the wall. Your car is going to get all smashed up and dented. You're going to come back to the middle lane. You're going to overcompensate. You're going to hit the other wall. You'll probably make it out of the tunnel, but that car is going to look like crap. And I think that's how a lot of us operate. We know when we cross the core value, it feels really bad. It's like we hit the electric fence. we just didn't have the articulation and the clarity to see the fence and the avoid avoid it in the in the first place um so that to me is someone's really draining the situation feels it just you feel like you're in a fight it feels really wrong um you're you're you're instantly angry those are all signs so as i mentioned find a better way and share it is is one of my core values um you know when i was in jobs where i just had to follow a process or when someone says to me like, Hey, this is just how we've always done it.

20:15Or we just need to do it that way. Uh, those are kind of like fighting words for me, uh, in the, in the workplace. So the opposite test is really interesting. I think the most people will clarify for them a value is when you really test that, uh, opposite, uh, value. Um, and you know, someone who's really about gratitude, you say, all right, you're talking to someone at a party and, and, and they're just talking about their trust fund and how everything's happening to them and all this stuff. And you see a visceral reaction from that person. So values, when you're in alignment, it feels like flow.

20:53When you're out of alignment, it kind of feels like you're running into a buzzsaw. Well, Robert, you've dropped a ton of value bombs today, brother. And I want you to take it home with giving us what you would consider the biggest takeaway of our conversation today? Like if there was just one thing that our listeners would walk away with from this conversation, what would that one thing be? In the book, I talk about a lot of people, you know, how do I get started on this? I think they want to say, okay, this is interesting. You know, it's really these six questions. If they go to robertglaser.com slash six S-I-X, you can just see the questions there.

21:29And they'll kind of get you started on thinking about where you've done things really well, where you've struggled, kind of all the things we talk about. If you take a half an hour and you answer those questions, I think you will start to see a lot of patterns and trends in your life that will kind of lead you towards thinking more deeply about these values and realizing you probably have some really deep values and they're probably driving you today, but the clarity could be really helpful for you. Okay. So you wrote the book, The Compass Within. You've referenced it a few times. where can Fire Nation go to get access?

22:03Yeah, they can go to compass-within.com. And if you pre-order the hardcover, it's right on that page before launch on October 14th. You can get the companion course for free. It's a lot more expensive than the book. So yeah, you can read the book or you can go check out the six questions. The book is a, it's a story. It's a parable. It's someone, a fictional character kind of going through a lot of core value issues in his life. And he meets a mentor who helps him figure out his core values and makes a lot of these difficult decisions. And then it sort of tells you what you saw in the end and how you can do the same process.

22:41It starts with those six questions. So if you want to see a little bit more what that feels like or looks like, check out The Compass Within. And otherwise, check out the six questions. Fire Nation, you're the average. Of the five people you spend the most time with, You've been hanging out with RG and JLD today, so keep up that heat. And for links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Type Robert in the search bar and the show notes page will pop right up. Robert, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side.

23:17Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Robert for sponsoring today's episode and Fire Nation. Are you an entrepreneur on fire who's looking to share your amazing message with the world? If yes, we are now accepting applications for entrepreneurs on fire. To learn more about becoming a guest, visit eofire.com slash guest. And I'll catch you there or on the flip side. Are you ready for the ultimate all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies? Build funnels, automate follow-ups, manage clients, and even white label your own software. Say hello to our featured partner, High Level, and visit highlevelfire.com to start your free trial today.

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