Core Values

We put the organization’s success ahead of our own.

We put Bandag’s success ahead of our personal egos or agendas; we act for the good of the organization, not for our personal benefit. We are an advocate for others and realize that success is in abundance. We recognize that our success will be achieved through the accomplishments and success of Bandag.

We do not emphasize “panic”; we do not abuse the power given to us by our position. Instead we think and speak in terms of working with people, not working for people. We are approachable and make ourselves accessible. When things go right, we recognize those responsible. When things go wrong, we own the responsibility and learn from our mistakes.

We approach our work courageously.

We recognize that, while there may be differences of opinion within teams, we will bring substantive conflicts and disagreements into the open and resolve them collaboratively and professionally. We will seek to understand each other’s intentions, motives and objectives while directly challenging each other’s ideas and opinions in order to achieve the best business results. When we disagree, we strive to present our viewpoint in a professional manner. We openly support team decisions.

We show confidence, maturity and flexibility in response to work challenges and are open to feedback and change. We step forward to address difficult issues and stand firm on behalf of the organization and key stakeholders. We have the tenacity to carry through energetically and be assertive when necessary; we set high personal standards of performance and show commitment to the success of the contributing individuals and the organization as a whole.

We are authentic in our dealing with others.

We treat everyone with respect and dignity. We do what we say we are going to do and never allow honesty and integrity to be compromised. We assume good intentions; we believe that all people desire to do their best.

We communicate directly with each other. We recognize and celebrate each other’s successes, and support each other in times of difficulty. We value the cultural, ethnic, religious and political diversity of our employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders because of the richness of ideas and experiences that diversity can bring to the organization.

We collaborate to better serve customers.

We recognize that everything matters. We collaborate across levels, functions and locations to meet customer needs, strengthen the business and avoid wasting time, talent and resources. We promote collaboration and teamwork across organizational boundaries, break down polarized perspectives and build consensus. We promote ideas and proposals persuasively, gaining support and commitment from others.

We continually search for ways to increase customer satisfaction and patronage, by leveraging our collective talents and abilities to anticipate and serve customer needs within the framework of our strategies.

We hold ourselves accountable for execution.

We are accountable to our shareholders, each other and to ourselves for the achievement of results in a manner that demonstrates our core values. We have a disciplined practice of prioritization, a sense of urgency for producing results, meeting commitments to others and executing profitably.

We promote a free flow of information and communication throughout the organization (upward, downward and across), listen actively, encourage open expression of ideas and opinions, express our ideas clearly, concisely and with impact, and we encourage people to passionately air their differences and to challenge ideas. We do not remain silent on important information or issues but rather practice full disclosure.

We are committed to continual learning.

We believe learning has to start with the self. We strive to understand our strengths, our weaknesses, our interests and our motivations. We are conscious of what we do well and what we don’t do well. We know how to capitalize on our strengths and overcome, minimize and/or neutralize our weaknesses.

We continuously challenge ourselves and are actively engaged in our own development and actively support the development of others. We have personal, career and organizational goals that are compatible and mutually reinforcing, and we pursue continual learning, self-development and broadening career experience.

We leverage our learning as a catalyst for change; we continuously challenge the status quo and champion new and innovative ways to serve our customers.