The three core values for Industrial Oils Unlimited are 1. Integrity; Relationships, and Life Balance.  These will change the future for all by Andy Coleman #000274

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Core Values

By Andy Coleman

Hi! I’m Andy Coleman and I’m here with IBBTalks and I’m going be sharing about the core values that we have as a company here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We’re a lubricant manufacturer but the principles that we bring involve integrity, involve relationships and they involve work-life balance. When we’re talking about integrity it’s much like that Christian ethic of trying to be the same as you are inside as how you express yourself on the outside and that’s what we want people to know us as a company. It’s how we conduct ourselves, it’s the way we have, you know, interactions with other companies, with vendors, with potential clients and it really does seem to make a difference. That integrity that comes with our behavior on the plant floor and also in boardrooms has to be consistent, there has to be that authentic foundation for us as a business to be able to do our work well and also have that known in the market place.

I’ve known from some that work in other countries, they have complained that there might not be a lot of integrity in the marketplace they find themselves in. Or maybe it’s hard to find workers of integrity. And what I would say is, I would encourage them and say that’s an opportunity to be taken advantage of, in a sense that is a competitive advantage that you would bring to bear. If you put a focus on integrity and trying to hire people of integrity and remember none of us are perfect, none of us have it all figured out, we’re going to make mistakes and problems but it’s how we respond to it, it’s how we own up to it. But that, if that reputation starts to stick and you have reputation of integrity, more people I’m convinced we’ll want to do business with you. Your record, your sales, your opportunities will increase and instead of getting frustrated you can see it as an opportunity.

The second core value that the company I work for brings to bear is relationships. It’s the relationships that we share at the workplace, the person in the desk right next to me. It’s the relationships that you know our executives can have with people that are working on the manufacturing floor. It’s the relationships we have with our customers. It’s also the relationships we have with those in our community. We are very intentional about trying to be a blessing to the community around us, that plays out in relationships and it’s very important. I’ll say this, in a previous job, I worked extensively in countries around the world. A lot of countries that were still developing and in some areas where I was doing nonprofit work where it was sometimes a little bit dangerous but I’ll say this, I learned a lot about relationships through that experience because it takes time to figure out who you are. It takes time for that relationship to really set in and to become strong and it takes time for that relationship to confirm the integrity that we’re trying to demonstrate.

Who are you, are you really backing up what you’re saying? Is this authentically who you are? It takes relationship. Maybe that’s spending time with one another drinking tea, whatever it might be, those relationships are critical and we value them and see them as good opportunities for our business. The last thing that we bring as a core value is work/life balance. That’s the recognition that work is important but it’s not the most important thing in our lives. In fact our relationship with God is the most important and if that’s not healthy the rest of our lives or the rest of our works are not going to be healthy. And I look at our families, our families are number one ministry priority and if we’re not home at all and we’re not able to take care of our spouses or our kids or our parents or our siblings then there’s a problem. As a company we recognize how important it is to make sure that we’re making room available for ourselves, for our employees to take advantage of that. To be involved in their communities. To coach, little, you know, sports for young people in our communities. Just to be out there and to live our lives and to be a blessing to those around us. It allows us to stay balanced and when we’re balanced we’re able to really bring the focus to our work that we want to bring.

Here’s the other thing when I’m describing these core values, not everybody that comes into the company sees things the same way. And that’s just the way it is, that’s the way life is whether you’re in the United States or you’re in another country but that’s okay. We’re still able to work well together and in many ways these core values that we bring to bear as we live them out, have positive effects on others and we also benefit from having people and have different skills, different backgrounds to help shape the work that we’re doing and to do it as well as possible. We do this for, you know, to provide for all the families that depend on this company, we support hundreds of families and that’s a joy. But really when I think of my own work, I do it to serve others and to serve the kingdom as well. It’s a wonderful opportunity to be in a company that’s intentional in that regard and I want to encourage all of you, if you have the opportunity to shape your own companies or your own organizations whether it’s business or nonprofit to bring the same intentional approach to bear and I think you’ll see fruit from it.