Character is Defined By Your Commitment to Your Values

Hey team! All right, so here we are again, and I want to share with you a quote by a man named Miles Monroe. I’ve quoted him in the past. He passed away a few years back, but I’ve read some books by him and heard him speak. His influence and leadership are timeless and will carry on probably for generations to come because of the things he did in his lifetime.

“Character is defined as commitment to a set of values without compromise.“

Let me say that again. Miles Monroe said, “Character is defined as a commitment to a set of values without compromise.”

We have core values here at Northwest Enforcement that we are committed to without compromise. Be valuable because nothing less will do. That is our core purpose, and I say it in every video. You guys hear me say it consistently. I hope you’re hearing others say it within the company—leaders and so on. I use our core values to lead and guide myself.

Humility—putting others above yourself, not thinking of yourself so much. Not too proud to pick up trash, willing to do anything, hold the ladder and the light for others. These are our values. These are the things we live by without compromise.

Investment—again, putting my service to others above myself. It’s not about anything else except serving our clients, our community, and our team. It matters so much to me. The level of investment I put in, I own what I do.

Now, some of you might say, “Yeah, but Chad, you and Karen, you guys own the company.” I hear you, but guys, I’ve had this kind of value system all along. My values are my character, so they don’t change with the company I work for. I’ve had the same investment-level mentality everywhere I’ve ever worked because it matters. You put in that level of care, and you get out of it that level.

You will always be followed by your value system in what you do.

I don’t value cheating, taking the easy road, or slacking off. I never have, and it has always done well for me. The same is true with our resolve—never quitting, not giving up when times get hard. Having that “improvise, adapt, and overcome” solution to a problem instead of saying, “This is too tough, we can’t do it.” Instead, I say, “We can get this done. We can do this,” and we continue to strive and move forward. Even in our failures, we rise, we get better, even with the mistakes we make. It’s because we don’t quit, it’s because we continue to try. That’s an important factor.

Transparency is another one. What you see is what you get. I am open and honest with our team and with people. That’s what we strive for—that level of commitment.

Character is defined by our commitment to that set of values without any compromise.

If you do that—if you set your commitment to the values you have latched onto—and if these are not your values, or you don’t have similar ones to live by, then you might feel like a fish out of water. You might not want to be here, and I understand that.

Our last core value, which we all love, is the ability to say to ourselves, “We like to eat cake.” We celebrate the family things that go on, even the hard things. I wouldn’t say it’s a celebration when somebody gets cancer like I had, or we have problems in those ways, but we band together as a family around those people. We love and care for them because of our value system to care for others, to love on others, and to appreciate others within the family, within the company.

That’s why we strive so much to do these things.

It is our commitment to these core values that set us apart—maybe from other companies. I don’t measure us by other companies.

I measure us by our successes, our care, and our love and respect for one another. That’s what we strive for. So, as you go through this week, look at our core value story. Look at the core values we have adopted, honed, and carved into our souls. Say, I want to be valuable because nothing less will do. I want to be humble, I want to be invested, I want to be transparent, I want to have resolve. And Lord, I want to eat cake with my family.

Guys, enjoy this week. But remember, it’s the commitment to your value system, to the values that you hold, that define your character long term.

God bless you, have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you next week.