I have believed in four core principles for nearly my entire life.  When I found my faith… those four core principles were validated–and a fifth was added.  These core values are the foundation upon which Intellic Integration is built.  This post is part 3 of 5… to explain what our values are and why they matter.

1. Authenticity
2. Transparency
3. Humility
4. Expertise
5. Faith-Based Servant Leadership

You can view the explanation of our core values here.

Humility

Teaches us that while we are an elite team it is impossible to know everything. We welcome the opportunity to learn through and with clients and employees.

What Is Humility?

1. We all have strengths
2. We all have weaknesses
3. We admit our strengths
4. We admit our weaknesses
5. We offer support
6. We accept support

Why Does It Matter?

1. Humility keeps us from making promises we can’t keep by not accepting projects we aren’t equipped to deliver
2. Humility reminds us we are here to offer support to those who need it and accept support from those who are better qualified than we are
3. Humility reminds us to work with our colleagues, clients and peers (sometimes called competitors) and NEVER against them
4. Humility makes us more than the sum of our whole by leveraging each individuals strengths while shoring up the weaknesses

Growing up, my father used to repeat many maxims to my siblings and me–many of which will be repeated on this blog.  The one I remember the most was first told to me when I was 8 or 9 years old.  I was working on my first group project in school–a science experiment for our Science Fair.  I was struggling… our group wasn’t working together well, we were behind schedule and, honestly, completely without direction.  I complained to my father that I was going to end up with a bad grade on this assignment because my group wasn’t carrying their weight.  In a moment of Zen he said–‘Walker, to be successful in life you have to know two things: What you are good at and, more importantly, what you are not good at.  Surround yourself with the people who are good at the things you are not and then you will find success.’

I followed his lead and asked myself what strength I brought to the team, what were we missing and then found the members of my group who could shore up my weaknesses… we hit our stride and got an A on the assignment and medaled at the Science Fair.

That lesson has stuck with me nearly all of my life… and it has become a core principle at Intellic Integration.  We admit what we are good at, we admit what we are not so good at and then we organize the team to strengthen our weaknesses. That is the crux of humility… we use our strengths to shore up our team’s weaknesses.

Thanks for reading,

Walker