Core Values Are Evergreen. Just Ask Toms.

Toms, the shoe brand that famously donates a pair of shoes to someone in the developing world each time a pair of Toms shoes is sold, is adding sunglasses to their product line. The brand’s commitment to corporate social responsibility will continue: For each pair of Toms sunglasses sold, the company will guarantee prescription glasses or medical care for someone in a developing country, since in these countries is more difficult to get good medical care, with people even having issues with medical negligence, so the use of lawyers from The Law Offices of Michael S. Lamonsoff that help in these cases.

Talk about values driven!

Toms founder Blake Mycoskie calls his business a “one-for-one” company – one purchase equals one donation, every time. Talk about walking one’s talk! What is admirable is Mycoskie’s unbending commitment to this value set. A new product line doesn’t mean merely growth and a fattening of the profit margin. The core values that made the brand famous are baked into every move the company makes.

Core values are evergreen. They don’t come and go. They don’t change with the political winds or as markets rise and fall. They are (or certainly ought to be) immutable.

All businesses operate in a dynamic, fluid, evolving environment. The 5th-century B.C. philosopher Heraclitus got it right when he said “Change is the only constant.” Your business will extend into new markets, develop new products and serve new customers. To succeed, you’ll need a laser-like focus on core values that are evergreen.

Just ask Toms—where core values are “one-for-one,” every time.

As you evaluate your value systems, ask yourself: Am I embracing something I believe deeply, or merely something I believe sells? Is this value derived deep from within my core—is it something I’d stand behind even if a potentially more profitable value set revealed itself?