stLouISTKDHX Update From Executive Director Kelly Wells - June 2022
Every week at our KDHX staff meeting, we begin by reading our mission, purpose, and values statements.
The mission of KDHX is to build community through media. The purpose of KDHX is to use the power of music to engage and unite individuals and communities. Our values are responsible stewardship, unwavering independence, intentional partnership, unyielding integrity, boundless discovery, contagious passion, and unbridled joy.
Each value is followed by a “we believe” statement.
Week after week, we read through these statements together, even when we think we know exactly what they mean. Even when we are tired of reading them. Even when it’s difficult to remember why it’s important that we read them or why it’s important to have them.
Having a mission, a purpose, and a set of values is nonprofit 101. We all have them and we all put them front and center in our strategic plans and annual reports. We trot them out when we want to show that we’re doing something.
But what does it mean to have values? What does it look like for an organization? What does it look like for KDHX?
A dictionary would define values as “principles or standards of behavior. One's judgment of what's important in life.” Author and researcher Brené Brown defines them as “a way of being or believing that we hold most important.”
If values are not only principles or standards of behavior but also a way of being or believing that we hold most important, then our mission, purpose, and values shouldn’t sit on a shelf gathering dust. They can’t be something we just check off a list. Our values have to be something we actively seek to deeply understand and demonstrate.
At KDHX our mission is what we do, our purpose is why we do it, and our values define the kind of people we want to be.
And so, we read our mission, purpose, and values every week so that they become our way of being. So that they are the lens through which we view every decision, project, goal, and even personal behavior.
We are anchored to these statements. What do we do? We build community. Why do we do it? To unite individuals and communities through the power of music. Who do we want to be while doing this work? We want to be aligned with our people-centered values that create connections and belonging, foster passion and joy, and cling to integrity and independence.
Every week as we read our mission, purpose, and values together, there is a deeper understanding and a sharper awareness of not only what these values mean, but how we can use them to guide us and define us. Being present with our values sets the tone for everything we do. Our goal at KDHX is to remain intensely curious and open as we continue to learn our way of being within our community.
