We’ve been running martial arts academies now for over 25 years. To not only survive in the martial arts industry, but to continue to grow and thrive through the decades, has required us to make several massive shifts (and many smaller ones) as a company.

No matter who you talk to at Easton or EOL, the most impactful shift we made in the last 20 years was to adopt and operate by a set of core values.

Core values, simply put, are an ethical line in the sand that you are willing to lose friends and money over if that line is stepped.

To make this work, you have to be deadset and fully bought-in on adhering to your core values. 

Because if there’s one thing we can guarantee, you will most certainly lose friends and money adhering to your core values, and sometimes both at the same time. 

It can be a tough pill to swallow and having to have hard discussions around the core values is never fun or easy.

However, it’s completely worth it to establish a set of values for you, your school, and your staff.

 Core values solve way more problems than they create. 

Why You Need Core Values

Living your core values will lead to a lot of hard discussion and even harder decisions, but they’ll also make things infinitely easier.

The first thing you’ll notice is that many decisions become easier with your core values as a framework to run ideas through.

Whether its adding classes, hiring staff, or making changes in the school, the first thing we ask before we make a decision is “does this align with our core values?”

If the answer is “no,” then we don’t move forward with the decision and it dies on the spot.

If the answer is “yes,” now we have the foundation to consider making the change without worrying it may potentially undo the fabric of the school.

A lot of ideas get filtered out immediately when we filter them through our core values, which leaves us time to focus on the initiatives that are in alignment. 

How to Find Your Core Values

Finding the right core values for you and your academy will take some time. Don’t feel like you have to nail them down perfectly from the start. Your values will evolve and change over time as your academy continues to grow.

The best tip we can give you is to include your key staff members in the core values discussion. You’re going to be asking anyone who works for you to adhere by your school’s core values, so get buy in right away by including your staff.

Easton's values have changed a lot over time.

No matter how they’ve iterated, we’ve always tried to keep them in alignment with the practice of martial arts. 

Our values are Excellence, Trust, Compassion, Stewardship, and Adaptability, all values that we see emulated on the mats by martial artists everyday. 

If these values can act as guiding principles when we train, then we believe they can help us run a great martial arts business as well.

It doesn’t matter if it’s on the mats or off, we expect our staff to exemplify our core values whenever they’re in the academy.

Things Get Harder Before They Get Easier

The last piece of advice we’d like to impart, prepare for things to get harder before they get easier. At first, implementing and adhering to core values may be a massive shift for you and your staff.

People will mess up and need to be brought back in line with hard conversations, while others will completely ignore the change and act as if they’re above adhering to values. 

These people have to go as they will poison the well for everyone else. 

It’s important to ensure everyone, especially leaders, are adhering to the core values and when they’re not it needs to be called out.

If people start getting away with disregarding your schools core values, the rest of your staff won’t see why they need to follow them either. 

Be ready to trim the fat from your school as you shift to a values-oriented business.

This part will be difficult, but as you get further along you’re going to find that you have a staff that is more aligned, a school that has a vision, and a culture you can be proud of.