Sharing your values and ethical expectations are important for two reasons. First, it helps build trust in your organization when you identify and share your values and live them daily. To express one sentiment and live another will damage trust and create cynicism. Second, the ethical expectations you define and follow sets the standard for employees dealing with each other and with your customers. Identify your values. Leaders that never identify and share their values run the risk of promoting mistrust. Mistrust is understandable when leaders never identify their values and merely let their employees and customers guess what they are—a practice that is very easy to change and which offers great benefits. The three or four values you identify as critical to the success of your enterprise might include: accountability, challenge, collaboration, compassion, competency, continuous-improvement, courage, dedication, dependability, discipline/order, efficiency, empathy, empowerment, enjoyment, excellence, flexibility, friendliness, generosity, honesty, individuality, innovation, integrity, life-long learning, loyalty, optimism, quality, responsibility, respect, security, service, stewardship, teamwork, wisdom. Built-to Last is a book you might want to read to learn about the values of companies that have been in business for 100 years or more, through, wars, depressions and economic boom periods. Define your ethical expectations. Leaders are perceived as ethical when their profit-making objectives coincide with practices that insure personal welfare of employees and the pursuit of the stated long-term vision. Unfortunately in today’s world there is a tendency by some to forget ethics as they seek money, power, and fame; sadly, they have not learned that short-term gains from unethical practices are no match for solid businesses built on personal integrity, honesty, and trust. Share your values and ethical expectations. You might write a personal letter to each new employee that lists your personal value and ethical expectation and how these shape your interpersonal actions and business dealings; alternatively, you might provide a small card on which you list company values and ethical expectations, or include a statement in your employee handbook. For example, suppose your values and ethical expectations include: Defining responsibility and accountability for each person, fostering teamwork and honoring continuous improvement in serving customers, working together, and maintaining honesty and integrity in all business dealings. Then in your letter, on your card, or in the handbook, you might explain your values and ethical expectations and how resulting increased efficiency and effectiveness from faithfully implementing them can result in an increasing number of satisfied customers, and the enterprise then being able to afford office sponsored picnics and parties, paid-vacations, and a profit-sharing program.