Living Our Corporate Values: Meet the VolPro Team
Values are the north star for organizations and help them maintain a positive team culture. However, many organizations simply list the characteristics (or values) they would like to embody but don’t offer their teams guidance on how to operationalize them.
Here at VolunteerPro, values statements help our team get concrete on what behaviors support these values in action. This ensures that everyone is working from the same set of assumptions about what success looks like.
Our list of values has been in place since I started the company back in 2009 – these came from my experiences working in some pretty toxic organizations in my past life in nonprofits.
I knew that I had the power to decide what kind of culture and workplace we could offer and vowed that my company would be a place where people could live their potential if they were willing to put in the work and take ownership of what we could become as a team.
Operationalize Your Corporate Values
Recently, I read Brené Brown’s book, Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. In it, she shares a simple process for operationalizing your values. And since the VolPro team recently formalized our company’s SOPs, I decided to take the opportunity to develop statements that help clarify what we mean by living into each value in daily practice. (In her Dare to Lead Hub, Brown offers some resources on how to do this, if you’re interested in trying it, too.)
Having clear corporate values, and the behaviors that go along with them, helps everyone aspire to do better. You can’t develop a positive and productive team culture unless you can explain precisely what you expect from one another. Values also help people decide – in a transparent way – whether this is the right organization for them. If they don’t align, it’s not a good match.
Should these corporate values be for an individual team, a department, or organization-wide? It’s up to you! My recommendation if I were taking this to leadership as an employee: I’d first pilot test them within my own team and then present what I learned to gain support before mandating those values across the board.
You will need the buy-in of your leadership and coworkers for corporate values to really work. When implementing this with my own team, I shared the company’s values during initial team onboarding. Later, when I was building out the SOP around our operationalized values, I asked my team to review the document and give feedback. That way we can share ownership for them and how they make us better as a team.
Meet the VolPro Team!
And speaking of the team, we have a small but mighty one here at VolunteerPro, and I’d love to introduce you!
About Chelsey Banaskavich, Community Manager
Three Important things I do:
- The opportunity to work with and support our amazing VolunteerPro Member Community is the best part of my job. I am constantly in awe of the work they do to make the world a better place.
- Creating meaningful content that benefits our VolunteerPro Members, that are leaders of volunteers, in the form of community engagement, webinars, and other activities is something I look forward to each week.
- Ability to dream! I love to think about what the future can look like for volunteerism and supporting my colleagues in the field.
Fun Fact About Me:
- I have bicycled 240 miles across the state of Missouri.
How to Contact Me:
- Feel free to reach out at chelsey@volpro.net to talk about how membership with VolunteerPro can make a difference in your program.
About Jamie Gaylor, Marketing Manager
Three Important things I do:
- Deliver the highest level of responsiveness and clear communication with emails, messaging, and content to our audience
- Work collaboratively with our strategic affiliate partners to reach mutually beneficial results
- Make sure all the marketing gears are turning seamlessly and our production schedule is moving as it should each day
Fun Fact about Me:
- On any given day, I’d probably rather be diving! After a lifetime of dreaming about it, I finally made the life-changing decision to get scuba certified a few years ago, and it is even better than I imagined. Every time I go in the water, it’s like being inside of a PBS documentary about our blue planet!
How to Contact Me:
- You can reach me at jamie@volpro.net with any questions you may have about our programs or our content. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
About Tobi Johnson, MA, CVA, Founder & President
Three Important things I do:
- Design and deliver exceptional learning content to our customers, members, students, and followers
- Develop strategy and goals for the company and keep us on track to meet them
- Develop strategic partnerships and alliances that serve mutual interests and the nonprofit sector at large
Fun Fact about Me:
- I have been a cheerleader, punk rocker, college soccer player, and brown belt in judo – I believe there’s no need to box yourself into one identity!
How to Contact Me:
- If you’d like to discuss how our services can help your organization grow its volunteer impact, book a discovery call with me HERE>>. I’d love to chat!
Defining VolunteerPro’s Corporate Values
Operationalizing our values means that we do more than state them, we practice them and live into them. We are clear about what we believe and hold important, and we take care that our intentions, words, thoughts, and behaviors align with those beliefs.
Below are the seven company values we live by as well as how we show up for each other and our customers. We invite you to take inspiration and see how we are living out our values.
1.) Compassionate.
We are compassionate by being supportive of ourselves and others when we are challenged.
“Compassion to me is about leaving room, listening, and offering support where needed. It is important that as professionals in and out of the nonprofit sector, we show ourselves and those around us the same compassion we put into our work and the people we serve.” -Chelsey
“A big part of compassion is assuming the best of intentions from others and looking for proactive ways to connect and help. I love this aspect of our VolPro community…I see leaders of volunteers generously sharing ideas, questions and answers, challenges and solutions with each other every day.” -Jamie
“I strive to offer support without enabling any limiting beliefs that don’t serve my team or customers. In practice, this means that I don’t assume what’s going on with someone, I ask to make sure what’s in my head matches reality.” -Tobi
For the VolunteerPro team, compassion means:
I reach out for help when I need it.
I don’t judge others when they ask for help.
I maintain composure in a crisis and keep others focused and moving forward.
I circle back when there’s a need for clarity or amends.
2.) Mindful
We are self-aware and take time out to reflect.
“Being able to notice the signs of exhaustion or burnout and not going beyond that point is so key in the nonprofit profession. I try to take stock of my daily activities and make sure they are contributing to my well-being so I can be at my best self for my colleagues.”-Chelsey
“A key element of mindfulness, to me, is being present in the work I am doing at that moment rather than allowing my mind to chase all the rabbits down the rabbit hole of multitasking. It takes discipline to capture my thoughts and refocus them on the task at hand, but doing that grounds me and keeps me from feeling overwhelmed.” -Jamie
“I am able to reset after setbacks rather than staying stuck in emotion. I am able to do this because I practice regular mindfulness meditation which, if it teaches you anything, teaches you that change is the only constant and we never need to stay stuck or miserable.”-Tobi
For the VolunteerPro team, being mindful means:
I acknowledge that exhaustion and burnout prevent me from being a full contributor of strategy, perspective, and creativity.
I’m aware of my emotions and how they affect myself and others.
I set clear boundaries with others.
I am mindful of other people’s time.
3.) Joyful
We make space for play and enjoyment in our work.
“I love to laugh and joke around, and it helps that we have created space for that at work. Infusing joyfulness into your workday not only helps you and your colleagues but will radiate in the work that you do in the community.” -Chelsey
“One of the most important pieces of life advice I ever received (from a scuba instructor, of course!) was ‘remember to have fun.’ As adults, we can easily get bogged down in challenges and responsibilities and forget to enjoy the moments. We have to remind ourselves to intentionally celebrate the good in each day!” -Jamie
“I am responsible for the energy I bring to situations so I stay positive. I have only recently realized how powerful human energy can be – it can either lift people up or destroy them. I choose to thrive and help others do so. Why not? It takes the same amount of energy, so why not lean into what’s possible?” -Tobi
For the VolunteerPro team, being joyful means:
I manage complexity, contradiction, and paradoxes without being knocked off my game.
I don’t give setbacks power over me; instead I look for the lessons I can celebrate.
I celebrate wins by recognizing and congratulating team members and customers on their good work.
I take responsibility for closing my skills gaps in ways I enjoy.
4.) Positive
We find the upside and are grateful for what we are given.
“What are the three good things that happened this week? That question is asked every one of our staff meetings. It is a chance for each of us to rack our brains (or prepare a list) of the good stuff to share. Having positivity at the top the meeting helps frame our planning so we can each give our best.” -Chelsey
“Negativity is such a slippery slope! It takes intention to choose to be positive, but it’s just a better way to live! The very best part is that once you start looking for the positive in your day, you start seeing it everywhere.” -Jamie
“I take responsibility for representing our values both internally and externally. This certainly isn’t always easy – if you’re tired, hungry, or jetlagged you may not be as on point as you’d like to be! But we’re not looking for perfection at my company, simply that everyone tries their best – I try to offer that grace to myself, as well.” -Tobi
For the VolunteerPro team, being positive means:
I respond to customers in a prompt, courteous and knowledgeable manner that improves their day.
I practice gratitude with my team, colleagues, and customers.
I extend the most generous interpretation possible to the intentions, words, and actions of others.
I talk to you, not about you.
5.) Focused
We pay attention to the right things at the right time.
“I think of focus like driving on an interstate. Yes, I am getting from point A to point B, but there is a lot that can happen along the way. Our focus is always on the destination, but there are times when you need to be the driver paying attention to what all the other drivers are doing. Same with the focused value at VolunteerPro, we need to keep one eye on the goal but also be flexible to pivot so we can always provide an outstanding experience for all of our stakeholders.” -Chelsey
“A recent brain study estimated that humans have about 48 thoughts per minute, or about 70,000 thoughts per day. However, we can really only process one at a time. So focus, for me, means taking charge of all those wild horses and corralling them into a productive and intentional mental process rather than letting them run loose and go wherever they want.” -Jamie
“I practice focus in all that I do by choosing to do what is right over what is fast, fun, easy, or comfortable. When I’ve taken leadership assessments, focus comes up as a high value for me personally. So, naturally, it’s a value for our company. We would never be where we are if we took the easy road. Taking risks – even when it scares you – is what entrepreneurship is all about.” -Tobi
For the VolunteerPro team, being focused means:
I do what I say I am going to do.
I choose courage over comfort by facing difficult conversations, meetings, and decisions rather than avoiding them.
I seek out and listen to customers’ needs in order to develop ideas and solutions.
I take responsibility for developing and maintaining professional relationships.
6.) Effective
We are about achieving the intended results for our efforts.
“We talk a lot about healthy boundaries with our members for their volunteers and themselves. We bring that boundary setting internally by knowing and communicating our own bandwidth for completing projects. Nobody wants to overpromise and underdeliver. Clarifying priorities helps us be more effective in our everyday efforts.” -Chelsey
”Effectiveness requires dreaming and doing, as well as tangible benchmarks to know when you’ve accomplished the task. I lean into all the metrics for each marketing effort to glean as much knowledge as I can, so I can make the next campaign more effective than the one before.” -Jamie
“I strive to exceed expectations in every facet of my work. I’m a super driven person who believes that anything worth doing is worth doing right. Yes, we make mistakes, but if you set the bar high, you are much more likely to have a decent outcome. Right now, I’m working on not being so disappointed when I don’t reach my stretch goals (a natural and frequent outcome when you are going for gold!), rather to learn from the experience and keep moving forward.” -Tobi
For the VolunteerPro team, being effective means:
I give and receive feedback in a respectful and daring way.
I take ownership for adapting to the fast pace of our environment.
I don’t overpromise and am able to balance competing priorities to deliver on commitments.
When there is a setback, failure, or disappointment, I’m able to identify opportunities for process improvements and share key learnings.
7.) Profitable
We achieve our growth goals through clear goals and well-executed plans.
“Profitable at times seems like a dirty word in the not-for-profit space. In the case of VolunteerPro, we wouldn’t be around to help our members have the successes they do if we did not provide what our members expect and need consistently, and on time. I think profitability for me is how well we can serve and engage our members. We want to provide them with the most up-to-date and useful information we can so they can harness the power of volunteers in their community.” -Chelsey
“Profitability is obviously important to any business as a stand-alone goal, but it’s also an important benchmark to show if our actions are resonating with our audience. If something isn’t working, we don’t beat ourselves up about it, but we do use that information to refocus on what our audience needs most and do our best to provide it.” – Jamie
“I understand the goals and priorities of the business. These change over time, as we shift our strategy to explore emerging markets and to continue to build our offerings. This takes time and a team of dedicated pros. I learned years ago that what I wanted to build couldn’t not be accomplished on my own. To me, profitability also means that the business helps the families of my team – I take the responsibility I made when I hired them very seriously.” -Tobi
For the VolunteerPro team, being profitable means:
I stay focused on the organization’s long-term goals by setting short-term goals and accepting accountability for achieving them.
My customer deliverables are consistently on time and on task.
I hold others accountable in a productive way.
I only share information that is mine to share.
Gain the Skills to Put Your Values Into Action!
I hope you found inspiration in the corporate values I’ve shared from our team today. And I’d want to invite you to join us in the VolunteerPro Membership Community for even more. Membership is a great place to refine goals for your volunteer-driven organization and gain the skills and knowledge to put your own corporate values into action in a meaningful way.
Membership includes access to a huge digital library of what-works-now content, live monthly seminars, workshops, and coaching calls, as well as a vibrant community of volunteer leaders to share ideas and questions.
Enrollment for new members is open NOW.
