Believe is more than a feeling or an emotion. Believe is a journey, a process, and, for a BakerHopper, a requirement.
While it has always been an implicit part of the BakerHopp culture, the idea of “believing in who we are and where we are going” was not something we formally articulated as a core value until 2016, the year BakerHopp underwent an ownership transition. The newly formed leadership team seized this time of change to ask the question, “Who are we NOW?”. Marking the moment, we officially recognized the impact believing had on our success. And Believe became a stake we firmly planted in the ground, and we’ve been proudly living it out ever since.
It’s Beneficial to Believe
The core value of believe allows us to honor ourselves and serve others at the same time, which has proven critical to our success as an organization. So often, I have seen professionals, particularly women, serve others to the point where they have lost any semblance of themselves; they unknowingly deplete their connection to their personal purpose in their work and can become ineffective.
Using the oxygen mask on the airplane analogy (you have to be able to breathe first yourself before you can help anyone else), in order to contribute to the success of others at an extra-ordinary level, we encourage our team to first and foremost believe in themselves and where they are going as individuals. Doing so results in higher morale, greater capacity to deliver the extra-ordinary service we’re known for, and a feeling of safety among team members to voice their real opinions, among many other things. In short, believing organically leads to the success of the team, BakerHopp, and the clients we serve daily.
Like extra-ordinary service and other tenets of what makes BakerHopp a great organization, believing in who we are and where we are going is a very simple concept that is not always easy to explain (and maintain), so we work hard at it every day. It’s dynamic, and pursuing it is never boring or done.
Believe Hits the Big Time
When the show Ted Lasso came out in 2020, and I watched Ted paste his handmade BELIEVE sign above the coach’s office door in the locker room, I jumped up and danced around. YESSSSS! As a leader who has been trying to explain and justify to others that Believe is a legitimate core value, I felt seen! And I see Coach Lasso (played by Jason Sudeikis) because I’ve learned since 2016 that you either “get it” or you don’t.
Coach Lasso (and Ted Lasso’s creators) understand how the value of belief impacts an organization. In the first season, in an episode where Coach Lasso is asked whether or not he believes in ghosts, he answers, “I do. But more importantly, I think they need to believe in themselves. You know?” I love this and relate. Ted teaches his team, the football club, and his viewers that belief is a universal, individual, and communal idea that increases success. He knows it helps all of the big goals come to life. Believing can make a job a career, turn a career into meaningful work, and transform meaningful work into a passion.
At BakerHopp, We Believe
BakerHopp team members “get it.” They know why they get out of bed every day, how to put both feet on the floor with purpose and focus on contributing to the success of others. Some of my favorite examples of belief in action include when teammates put their own spin on communicating difficult news, correct me in a meeting, take the initiative on recommendations to a client, make a hilarious (and appropriate) joke, and make a suggestion that I know they are nervous about speaking up about. All of this enables each of us to approach each day, whether at work or at home, believing in our ability to contribute to the success of others in our own unique way. And we can do this while believing that BakerHopp Insurance Group can do what we do better than any other insurance organization in our market.
An expanded new twist on believe popped up just this week. I was having a meeting with a prospective client. As I was leaving their office and thinking to myself how well the conversation went, I looked up and saw a Ted Lasso-style Believe sign posted above the conference room door. Now I know I am going to land that client.
Thank you, Ted Lasso, for making Believe contagious. We are all better for it.