The core values of an organization are those values which form the foundation on which we perform work and conduct ourselves. We have an entire universe of values, but some of them are so primary, so important to us, that through out the changes in society, government, politics, and technology they are STILL the core values we will abide by.
In an ever-changing world, core values are constant. Core values are not descriptions of the work we do or the strategies we employ to accomplish our mission. The values underlie our work, how interact with each other, and which strategies we employ to fulfill our mission. The core values are the basic elements of how we go about our work. They are the practices we use every day in everything we do.
Our core values are:
Honor – honesty, fairness, integrity in one’s beliefs and actions. Plato said, “What is honored in a country is what is practiced there.” What we do speaks louder than what we say.
Integrity – honesty; adherence to moral and ethical principals. We do what we say we are going to do regardless of the costs, difficulty, outcomes or other pressures.
Quality – character with respect to fineness or grade of excellence. Excellence in things unseen, in the little things and in our actions.
Partnership – the state or condition of being a partner; participation; association; joint interest. The Golden Rule – Treat others as you want to be treated. We are interdependent rather than independent. We try to walk in the shoes of our clients, customers, tenants, bankers and employees.
Service – supplying aid, maintenance or repair. We focus on meeting needs of others and, hopefully, helping them grow their businesses.
They each mean something to us.