Core Values That Resonate Positivity
When posed with the question “What are your values?”, that can also come across as “What characters/behaviors do you hold in high esteem?”. Your values go a long way in describing your personality and placement in life. I believe it is safe to say that every institution is built on a particular set of values. Their values vary and they bring different results to the table. Some set of values these companies hold produce the best of results and do give an all-round solution to issues that could come up. An example of this is Andela’s EPIC value.
EPIC as a word (adjective in this case) can mean “Heroic”. First time I heard about the EPIC values in Andela, I thought “well, being heroic is nice”. I had no idea EPIC is more than just a word, it is an acronym for Excellence, Passion, Integrity and Collaboration. These words really sum up a lot, in them you can find a lot (if not all) of the values needed to get you to highest level you can ever imagine. I will like to share my understanding of each of these words.
Excellence can be defined as the state of standing out, being at the best level possible. The best here doesn’t equate to having arrived at the final destination, because with excellence, you are always big on improvement. There is always more to be done, so your best might not just be good enough at a time. Excellence has nothing to do with perfection. Perfection gives you the notion that you have arrived while with excellence, you know you can do better; when you make mistakes, you take corrections and work on becoming better. You always try to be a better version of your former self. This fits perfectly with Andela. At Andela, you are always pushed to make yourself better. Andela helps you recognize that mistakes are part of life, but you have to make sure you work on the feedback and improve. At andela, you are taught to exceed expectations when given a task. Having a growth mindset is an integral part of excellence.
Passion is the strong drive towards a cause. With excellence, you still need passion to make a strong impact in whatever cause you wish to pursue. Without passion, you are likely going to quit when the going gets tough. Passion gives you the motivation, commitment and determination to make it through. Even on a day you wake up with less motivation, your drive to succeed keeps you going. My continued interest in Information and Technology has a lot to do with my passion for this industry. I have come across challenges where I felt discouraged to continue due to the level of difficulty, but my passion made me persist and at the end, I get encouraged by the outcome of my persistence.
Building trust in relationships can be a hectic mission but its worth can’t be over-emphasized. However, it’s more hectic trying to re-build a shattered trust. This is where the importance of Integrity comes to play. Integrity has to do with being trustworthy, honest and having strong principles based on moral grounds on a consistent basis. At Andela, there is a lot of encouragement on holding values that make you trustworthy. Integrity gives you the will to do what is right, damning the consequence(s) of not believing in the wrong practices.
Collaboration is the last but not the least of the EPIC values. No single tree makes up a forest. Working as a group to achieve an aim has so many advantages. Results are achieved within a lesser time, the workload is reduced and distributed and better output is achieved. You also learn better from colleagues. Building cordial relationships with colleagues irrespective of some differences is an integral part of collaboration. With collaboration, you are encouraged to seek help when you need it and offer one when needed. Working as a team makes impossible feats achievable.
In summary, the EPIC values contain every other values needed to be 100% positive in your way of life. There is no gain stating the fact that these values do not go unchallenged. You will be tested and tempted to drop some, but the other values they hold keeps you going. Talk about honesty, persistence, patience, commitment, determination, team spirit, personal growth, innovation, organization, e.t.c. Build the EPIC values in your life and you definitely will not regret it.
