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Our Better Angels and 7 Virtues of Leadership

I’m in the middle of the book Our Better Angels right now by Jonathan Reckford, who is the CEO of Habitat for Humanity; and, I can’t stop thinking about its potential impact on our community, state, and world. I first heard of Jonathan and his book on the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast where he and Andy discussed 7 Virtues that Jonathan and Habitat for Humanity have adopted and embodied.

These Virtues are:

  1. Kindness
  2. Community
  3. Empowerment
  4. Joy
  5. Respect
  6. Generosity
  7. Service

I had the opportunty to help build 3 Habitat homes in college with my fraternity brothers. I’m not sure when Habitat adopted these virtues. But, as I read this book and think back on those experiences of helping aspiring homeowners build their own homes, I get excited. As a County Commissioner in Irwin County, I get excited thinking about what we all can also accomplish and become if we choose to come together in kindness, care for each other in community, empower each other to become all that God intends for us, choose and live out joy even when it’s tough, respect each other fully, generously give, and serve with humility from the top down.

Check out the podcast and book. If you ever have the chance to serve with Habitat, DO IT! If you ever have the chance to go overseas and serve, TAKE IT! You’ll be glad you did.

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What Are We All About?

Over the past year, we’ve brought on several new team members and expanded the scope of our business well beyond just squeezing muscadine juice and the four walls of our building. Originally we only pressed and bottled muscadine juice. Today, MPC offers a number of ingredients and services around the world, and Paulk Vineyards sells juices, jellies, and wine throughout the country. Because of all that’s going on, I was recently reminded that I need to define and remind everyone what we’re all about. I figured my blog will be as good a place as any so that you can also check out other things I’ve written to better understand what we and I am all about.

Without any further adieu, here is Muscadine Products Corporation’s Mission, Vision, Values, & Brand Commitment:

Mission:  MPC exists to… 

  • honor God
  • serve others
  • pursue excellence, and
  • grow profitably.

Vision: 

  • MPC will be THE first and last call when people think of muscadine products from juice to powder to extract to wine.
  • MPC will be THE source of genuine, healthy, and natural products for people hoping to live a genuine, healthy, and natural life. 
  • MPC will be THE custom processor of choice for regionally grown and sourced ingredients.

Values:  We are & strive to be…

  • Honest: Choosing to be truthful in whatever you say & do. Telling the truth even when it hurts because not telling truth undermines the relationship.
  • Trusting: Putting your confidence in someone you can depend on. Being someone others can depend on. 
  • Humble: Putting others first by giving up what you think you deserve.
  • Generous: Making someone’s day by giving something away.
  • Kind: Showing others that are valuable by how you treat them.
  • Hungry: (initiative): Seeing what needs to be done & doing it. Make it Better! Looking for good to do!
  • Disciplined: Doing what you need to do now so you can be better later.
  • Persevering: Refusing to give up when life gets hard. Finish the job!
  • Resilient: Getting back up when knocked down because finishing the task at hand matters.
  • Smart (wisdom): Finding out what you need to do & doing it. 
    • Make it Better: there’s always a way to make things better.
    • Take it Personally: treat it like it’s yours because to the customer, it is personal.
    • Collaborate with Others: we’re better together.
    • Replace Ourselves: none of us will do what we’re doing here forever.
    • Stay Fit: spiritually, physically, mentally, physically, financially, relationally…fitness matters.
    • Remain Open Handed: it’s ultimately not ours to hold onto.
  • Curious: Seeking to understand the world & people around us because they are fascinating. Seeking to discover something new so you can be better at whatever you do.
  • Creative: Using your imagination to do something that makes someone’s day, makes a difference, or solves a problem worth solving.
  • Responsible: Proving you can be trusted with what is expected of you. Taking care of what you have because it all belongs to God anyway. 
  • Conscientious: Details matter…from the parking lot to the paper work and from the bins to the bottles. It ALL matters.
  • Knowledge: Discovering something new so you can be better at whatever you do.
  • Resourceful: Leveraging what’s at hand to overcome.

Brand Commitment: We add value to the things we grow and the people we get to know.

So, there you have it. If you work here and wonder, “Why are we doing this task?”, what you are doing should fit within this context.

If you visit us or partner with us, my goal is that you consider yourself better for having interacted with us. And, you should see these values play out through your interaction with our team.

I’d love to get your thoughts, too. What are you all about?

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Be the Person You Want to Work With is Working With

A few years ago, I identified the values that I want everyone working with me to embody. These are descriptive values and not purely aspirational values. In other words, to work with our company, you need to be living out these qualities already and not aspiring to live them out. Those values are Humble, Hungry, Honest, and Smart.

Fast forward a couple of years, and Michael Hyatt wrote a blog post about them…thanks Mike! Then, even better, Patrick Lencioni wrote a book about three of these values entitled, The Ideal Team Player. Check out both resources…they are really good reads!

Again, for me and my team, we will be Humble, Hungry, Honest, and Smart. We will be Humble in our words and actions, putting others first by giving up what we think we deserve. We will be Hungry, self motivated to get things done. We will be Honest in whatever we say and do, even when it hurts. And, we will be Smart, showing common sense as we work with others.

Now, I challenge you to also identify the qualities of people you want to work with and then start living out those qualities. Be the person you want to work with is working with. We can all use a little more empathy and compassion these days.

I’m curious, what 2-4 characteristics (from this list or otherwise) do you value most and live by?