As a business owner, the only compass you truly need is the one centred on your core values. It serves as the most important decision making compass in both your business and personal life. It allows you to align your business with what matters most to you. But how do you use your core values at the centre of your decision making process in business? Furthermore, how can it accelerate your route towards the correct and effective solution required?
Let me start with an example of a decision I made years ago when I was in the early years of Nuvem9 and way before I was even aware of core values, never mind how to use them in evaluating the right decision.
Working with the Wrong Client
A client of mine had hit bad times both in business and personally. He was facing divorce, was highly stressed and this spread into his behaviour in business. He contacted me after his internal accountant resigned, primarily it seemed due to frustration on the way the accounts were having to operate and a breakdown in the working relationship with my client. He asked me, pleaded with me in fact, to step in and help him rectify things. There was a much larger retainer fee placed on the table, but I was aware of more than one red flag, particularly clear evidence of employee satisfaction (Glassdoor reviews were horrendous), a payables ledger which indicated the business had played fast and loose with suppliers, and a lack of any clear business strategy which was demonstrated by some quite random choices on business expansion via premises that simply didn’t seem to make sense.
I did not follow my compass. This contract did not score anywhere near the levels it should have on my core values of integrity (being associated with a rogue cashflow) and excellence (any efforts to manage the ship would appear to at risk of being undermined by the client).
Not surprisingly, after 7 months of not receiving any payment for the work, and a further escalation of questionable behaviour with employees and suppliers, I had to cancel the contract. I earned nothing, but I learnt immensely.
The lesson learned? The mistake wasn’t taking the contract. It was ignoring the compass.
Let’s look at this more positively; what happens when three values I hold deeply allowed me to make better, faster decisions.
Value 1 – Family
In 2015, my wife and I made the decision to move to Portugal, place our son in school and take a 1 year experiment living in a European country. That change is now permanent and way beyond the 1 year experiment. I valued the benefits this would bring our family and way of life so highly that I took a number of decisions in business that allowed me to move to a 100% virtual business with the right client base that could operate with that model. I now look at my son, speaking fluent Portuguese and having an amazing experience at University in Lisbon, with so much pride knowing that I have helped pave the way for that to happen.
Similarly, in 2022, Serena Williams announced she was “evolving away” from tennis to focus on her family and growing her venture fund. She could have continued playing and striving for more tennis records, more titles, more prize money and more glory. Instead, she looked at her life holistically and realised that family was now her North Star. Once that was clear, the decision became obvious and powerful.
The takeaway: When you name what matters, saying no to everything else becomes easier.
If family is a core value of yours, ask yourself:
- Am I building a business that lets me be present for the people I love?
- Do I make space for family, or just fit them in around the business?
“The most important thing in the world is family and love.”
John Wooden, legendary basketball coach
Value 2 – Excellence
In Nuvem9, I lead our efforts to improve the experience of our clients, whether that be via expanding reporting templates, customising reports to suit specific needs, testing new software, bringing in new automation opportunities etc. The strive to make the experience better is at the core of this effort and fundamentally allows us to deliver our mission: Making the world a better place one great business at a time. If we can deliver information on our client’s businesses faster, more effectively and more clearly, consistently improving on that, the likelihood they will understand and act on the data increases, and their business will grow. In the Nuvem9 back office everything we deliver has this consistent standard that it must be diligently checked, cross checked and reach that level of excellence before any client sees it.
Steve Jobs famously delayed the release of the original Macintosh because it wasn’t beautiful enough on the inside (the circuit boards most customers would ever see). To most, this seemed obsessive. But to Jobs, excellence wasn’t about perception: it was about principle. His insistence on excellence became the bedrock of Apple’s reputation, even when it cost more in time and money.
The takeaway: Excellence sometimes demands difficult decisions, such as delaying launches, saying no to shortcuts, or retraining your team to meet the standard of excellence you demand.
If excellence is a core value of yours, ask yourself:
- Where am I tolerating “good enough” when excellence is the standard I want to be known for?
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Aristotle
Value 3 – Integrity
I cannot advise business owners if I do not eat my own produce. That means we use the systems we recommend externally within Nuvem9. We prepare reports on our own business in the same way we deliver to clients. We also clearly state in every single opening sales call what we do and what we don’t do. It is imperative to me, and to the business, that we don’t compromise our integrity by selling services we cannot fully stand over, or work with clients that do not meet our ideal client match and/or sector requirements. I also have a clear appreciation for the life I was born into and can enjoy living; I was fortunate enough to not have to want for things growing up and I can live in a free society in a peaceful environment. Others are not fortunate to be granted that and that is why we have a clear commitment in Nuvem9 to pay it forward via our B1G1 partnership and a range of mentoring / coaching services.
In 2022, Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, transferred ownership of the $3 billion company to a trust and nonprofit to fight climate change saying, “Earth is now our only shareholder.” It was a bold move and one that shocked many. But for decades, Chouinard had built his business around environmental integrity. When the question arose about the company’s future, he didn’t need to invent a new strategy as he already had a compass. The decision was simply the next step.
The takeaway: When your values are clear, legacy decisions feel like continuity, not reinvention.
If integrity is a core value of yours, ask yourself:
- What decisions have I been delaying because I don’t want to rock the boat – but know deep down are the right thing to do?
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”
C.S. Lewis
Final Thoughts
Values don’t slow you down; in fact, they help you move faster. When you’re clear on what matters, your decision-making sharpens, your confidence increases, and your outcomes become more sustainable.
So, this week, take 15 minutes and revisit those three values. Perhaps it’s:
- How does your business serve your family?
- Where are you upholding or compromising on excellence?
- And when did you last choose integrity, even when it cost you?
You may find that clarity comes faster than expected and the next step reveals itself.
Author: Niall McGinnity, CEO @ Nuvem9
Main Image Credit: Photo by Walls.io
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