Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/1059224
18 | AD Today 2018 | OWN IT O w n Yo ur C o r e B elie f s : O n W h a t A r e Yo u U n wa v er in g ? During his keynote address at the 2017 AD North American Meetings, Chairman & CEO Bill Weisberg said that all successful businesses have certain core fundamental values that are unwavering in the midst of change. It's a statement with which most leaders wholeheartedly agree. From a dedication to integrity, honesty, and family to treating others with respect, giving back to the community, and more, several representatives of the AD community discuss the core beliefs they hold dear, both personally and professionally, and how they work to instill those values throughout their corporate culture. ANDY NEWLAND, Human Dignity " When I was appointed as the leader of our family business almost six years ago, I quickly tried to find a way to calm the intimidation I felt from being entrusted with leading the next chapter of the legacy that my grandfather started 50 years prior. There have been different sales tactics and operational strategies that have aided us in our success over the years, but after some reflection, I realized that there were definitely some core values at the heart of our business that never changed. As I took the baton, I asked my father and brothers, who had operated the business so successfully for many years, to spell out those core values and three themes surfaced quickly. The first, and perhaps most important, is 'human dignity.' We believe that every employee, customer, and vendor with whom we interact should always be treated with basic respect and given appropriate autonomy to do their jobs using their God-given talents. The second core value that's always been ingrained in our culture is 'servant leadership,' or leading by example and never asking someone to do something that you wouldn't be willing to do yourself. Lastly, we believe in the 'common good,' a philosophy dating back thousands of years which holds that more enduring happiness is found when working toward the common good of others. Employees with strong egos generally haven't fared well at Hercules. A culture promoting the common good results in happier employees, and happy employees are generally more successful employees. Our team at Hercules is intentional about those values and works to ingrain them in the company culture in as many ways as they can. Among them, they're spelled out in our strategic plan, posted at all of our branches, and are also included in all of our 360° surveys and employee reviews. I can also think of several occasions when we've dealt with customers, vendors, and fellow employees who had a different perspective on the human dignity of our employees, and have let them know that they weren't welcome here. There's nothing that will speak more loudly to your employees than literally putting your money where your mouth is. Overall, our family's core values are all rooted in our strong faith and we do our very best not to make our faith just a Sunday morning thing but rather something that we try to live seven days a week. When you put this out there as a business leader, it certainly increases the scrutiny from those watching your actions and I know that as a human, I fall short all the time. However, if you're relentless in your efforts to strive toward these core values, life and business are much more meaningful. " "We do our very best not to make our faith just a Sunday morning thing but rather something that we try to live seven days a week." – Andy Newland, Hercules Industries, Inc. Andy Newland President Hercules Industries, Inc.