Standards of Lasting Purpose

Life University operationalizes Lasting Purpose through the Four Standards, which employees are asked to demonstrate:

An attitude of helpfulness and gratitude

Striving for each action to help, not hurt, our common purpose while maintaining an appreciative attitude.

It really starts here, with demonstrating kindness and courtesy even when we are having a bad day. Always ask “how can I help you?” and actually help through the right answer, direct and connect others with the right person, or sometimes just listen enough to understand that the person across from us just wants to be heard. Improve our listening and other communication skills—they can always get better. Additionally, the standard requires that we all adopt an attitude of gratitude.

User friendly always

People work best together when they create well designed and well communicated processes that make the best use of resources; it is our responsibility to design and maintain a seamless service environment.

This standard requires intentional collaboration and being an active listener. Living this standard requires us to get out of our offices and reach out to others across campus. Who else do you need to know to do your job better? It requires us to help others reach their goals. It requires us to be available and accessible to others. It requires us to understand that we build relationships through our character, competence and follow-through. We must respect everyone always.

A personal commitment to building relationships

We aim for interactions that are transformational, not just transactional; we treat our job duties as a commitment to actively listen and create shared understanding for going forward to meet the needs of each person we serve, while serving the needs of the institution.

We understand that first and foremost we are to serve others to help them make the best decisions or find the best path. The only way we can do that well is to approach every project as a team—to figure out a way to get to a yes. How can we do that? By staying focused on the issues, seeking other input, sharing our ideas for solutions, and understanding that we are part of Life University and our actions may have implications across campus. And we can’t stop there; we must own the problem and because we own it, we will be proactive. We will gain a solid understanding of the problem, the needs and the possibilities. We will be both compassionate and effective and will set attainable goals. Moreover, we will ask for help and give feedback on the results.

Managing to the best solution

Performing our jobs to the best of our abilities; assuming responsibility for continuous improvement, especially when things don’t go as planned; and making decisions and changes that honor the University’s values and commitments.

First and foremost, we will work to always be consistent as individuals. As teams and departments, we will look to develop and refine sound policies, procedures and protocols and communicate those clearly and timely. We will work as a University to create a seamless environment. Furthermore, we will understand that it is our responsibility to continue to learn more in order to help more.