How to make your values permeate the community

Articulating your values takes soul searching and long conversations. Making them permeate the community is hard in a different way: it means changing how people behave, which is a classic organisational problem.

It starts at the top

If your leadership team cannot recall the values off the top of their heads, that is a bad sign. The values need to be at the forefront of every meeting and guide each decision. If the people at the top can't state them, nobody further down has a chance.

Start with yourself

You should be sick of hearing yourself talk about the values. That doesn't mean lecturing on them in the abstract. It means acknowledging them at the start of any meeting, and then referring back to them continuously.

Use the same phrasing for each value every time, because language is contagious. Suppose one of your values is "every generation belongs". A meeting might open like this: "Before we start, a reminder that every generation belongs here. Keep that in mind as we look at the Shabbat timetable." Later, when the discussion turns to the youth minyan: "Does this help every generation belong?" If you say "inclusive of all ages" one week and "family-friendly" the next, nothing sticks. The same words, repeated, do.

Eventually you will hear other people using the same words, and referring back to the values when they give their own ideas. This takes time. When you see it, pat yourself on the back, because it is a milestone. Then lean into it.

Bring the values into the debate

The next time there is a debate, bring the values as evidence for your argument. Invite others to do the same.

Values are often in tension with one another, so you may find two legitimate, value-based sides to a debate. One side argues from "every generation belongs", the other from "serious learning". That is fine, and healthy. The debate is better when everyone can say which value they are defending, because then you are arguing about priorities and not about personalities.

The next level down

Below the officers are the people who volunteer and engage the membership without an official position: someone running a one-off event, or the children's service. Any training they are given should echo the value language too. The person running the children's service should hear "every generation belongs" in their induction, in the same words the board uses, and understand how their work expresses it.

In your announcements: present, not forced

You should also start to see the values in your publications. The value language should run through announcements and communications, and the goal is for it to be present without feeling forced.

One thing that can work well is giving each value its own icon and colour. The icon can then be subtly present on adverts and announcements for anything that supports that value.

Here is the difference between forced and natural, using a value of giving back to the community:

The first announcement is about the shul, and the second is about what you can do. Use the same phrase, "giving back to the community", for the visit to the retirement home, and members will begin to see two events as part of one thing. That is the point.

Celebrate, and lead by example

When people do something, or hold an event, that supports a value, celebrate it afterwards as well as publicising it beforehand. Say what happened, who made it happen, and which value it served.

Leadership behaviour matters more than any announcement. If leaders don't behave according to the values, the underlying message will not resonate, whatever the posters say. Ideally, behaving in line with the values should be a prerequisite for a leadership role.

Done well, this largely takes care of itself. People whose values match the community's are more engaged, and so more likely to put themselves forward for leadership.

Screens as a vehicle

Screens help with all of this. They let you theme each notice in a particular way, with colours and animation, according to the value it supports. A food drive appears in the "giving back" colour with its icon, and the youth minyan in the "every generation belongs" colour. Members begin to feel the values without anyone needing to articulate them, which is another way for them to permeate the community.

Is it worth it?

All of this is easier said than done, and it takes constant energy and training for the leadership. It is worth it because the goal is for the membership to understand what your community stands for. Once they do, you can start to boost community engagement in a much more meaningful way. That means closing the gaps between what members give and what they could give, as described in What do we actually mean by community engagement?, because members who see themselves in the values are the ones whose potential you can realistically unlock.

In short

Values permeate a community the way a phrase spreads: one person keeps saying it, in the same words, until others start saying it back. Start with the leadership, and keep going until you stop noticing the words because everyone uses them.