Balancing Your Values Proposition

By Jay Winchester

When you make a clear statement of the tangible results and benefits a customer receives from using your products or services, that is called your value proposition, a term familiar to many entrepreneurs. In fact, the more specific your value proposition is, the better your business will be because customers understand what they gain from doing business with you.

However, while many entrepreneurs are clear on their value proposition, they are less clear about their values proposition. And that can mean just as much to your business, if not more - especially during the current economic and business climates. Your values proposition involves making a clear statement of the authentic values by which you run your business. This gives potential customers a clear picture of what they can expect in their dealings with you.

In life and in business, values are defined as those things we regard as having ultimate importance, significance, or worth. Values can also be a set of principles, standards, or beliefs concerning these things of ultimate importance. The hard part for many business owners is not understanding what is significant to them; it is understanding how to take what is significant and live it authentically within the context of their business.

Too often, business owners make the mistake of attempting to separate who they are at work from who they are at home. This is akin to having a split personality. Eventually, the dichotomy between the two selves becomes so great that one of two things happen: either the person’s ability to be effective in both areas suffers, or the person sacrifices one area - often the personal side - in favor of being highly effective in the business. After all, the success of the business fuels success at home, right?

Let’s answer that in musical terms. Older readers (yes, we value experience in this column) may remember a catchy Ray Stevens ditty called Mr. Businessman. The song represented a departure for Stevens, who made his fame and fortune writing comedy songs (Gitarzan and The Streak, among others) before striking it big with the Grammy-winning chart-topper, Everything is Beautiful. With Mr. Businessman, Stevens was crafting an early attempt at serious songwriting and social commentary, as much in vogue then as, oh, Lady GaGa is today, and the song charted in the Top 30 in 1968. Its chorus effectively illuminated this dichotomy between who we are at home and who we at work:

            You better take care of business Mr. Businessman
What's your plan?
Get down to business Mr. Businessman if you can
Before it's too late and you throw your life away…
Did you see your children growing up today?
And did you hear the music of their laughter
As they set about to play?
Did you catch the fragrance of those roses in your garden?
Did the morning sunlight warm your soul,
Brighten up your day?
Do you qualify to be alive?
Or is the limit of your senses so as only to survive…?

While slightly condemning in tone (remember, this was 1968, and The Establishment was taking it on the chin regularly… perhaps things don’t change as much as we might like to think), the lyrics clearly state the problem. This businessman’s values proposition clearly lacked balance.

You have your home life and your business life and, surprisingly to many, they are both the same life. There is no difference. You cannot be one way at home and another way at work, and then claim to value authenticity or genuineness in your business values or your dealings with customers. Sure, you may score a few wins here and there, but over time, over the long haul, who you truly are always comes to light.

If you feel the tension in your life between how you are at work and how you are at home, take the advice of Ray Stevens: Get down to business…before it’s too late. Begin by balancing your values proposition. You’ll find prosperity in the deeply satisfying sense when the values you display at home are identical to the ones you display at work. Be real…and people will respond to you.

About the Author
Jay M. Winchester is the owner and operator of The Winchester Group, a Christian media company specializing in delivering professional writing, editing and content creation services to companies of all sizes, including members of the Fortune 500. Since 1994, his byline has appeared over 450 times in a variety of publications, many with national distributions. Jay has written long-form direct response television and other commercial spots for Tony Little, Reliant Interactive Media and others. He is the former Managing Editor of two bi-monthly journals for writers, American Writers Review and Writing for Money. He is also the Managing Editor, Producer and voice for the Bay Area Business Minute, broadcast each workday on NewsTalk 820 AM, WWBA. He is a regular contributor to Bay Area Business Magazine.