LSF Values

 

The values of Life Steps guide our efforts to accomplish the following:

• Strive to provide a healthy environment for staff, promoting wellness and satisfaction in work, personal and professional growth, and the opportunity to share in the successes of Life Steps.
• Incorporate the principles of teamwork, integrity, innovation and a high-level performance, with a client focus.
• Pursue our goals in a socially responsible manner, contributing to the betterment of the community at large.

Life Steps Culture

 

The essence of our agency culture is to minimize bureaucracy. Frontline staff is considered critical in shaping the culture, mission and policies of the organization. Creativity is highly valued, and a flat organization is preferred over a pyramidal structure. This philosophy puts a strong emphasis on problem solving and development by using the assets of all partners collaboratively.

Life Steps Core Beliefs

 

At the foundation of our core beliefs is Life Steps’ full commitment to service quality. Therefore, the client’s welfare takes top priority. To maintain this commitment, Life Steps understands that partners must fully participate in defining the big picture and must feel free to express their views while sustaining a "can do" attitude to:

• Improve service continually.
• Provide consistency and clarity to interventions.
• Bring more and better creative ideas to the table.
• Combine viewpoints, talents and expertise.
• Create an environment of open communications.
• Improve skills and knowledge by learning from one another.
• Keep everyone informed about the work being accomplished.

 

Life Steps Foundation Culture, Core Values, and Beliefs

The client is #1	Become the best service provider in California Meet unmet needs
Trendsetters	Always ahead of the pack
A learning organization	Change is the constant Flexibility and adaptability Always raising the bar
Flat organization: "Progress must be everybody’s business." —Dorothy Leonard	Open-door policy Free flow of information Building core knowledge Building core capability Maximizing effectiveness of operation Fiscally responsible Stakeholder ownership/accountability
The real asset is the people	Maximize individual potential Professional/personal growth Topple the pyramid
Creativity	Meeting of minds Effective communication Always searching for optimal solutions Having fun in the process
Empowerment	A "can do" attitude

The Life Steps Learning Philosophy

Learning is a highly diverse process. Everyone at Life Steps should learn something from someone regularly and share their knowledge with someone else. We are all teachers and we are all learners. Learning may occur simply during a spontaneous, informal discussion or during a formal, planned course. Whatever the case, training and learning should be an active, experiential process directly relevant and meaningful to the work performed. We also need time to unlearn the old and integrate the new, according to our individual learning styles. We need to ensure that what we teach applies to the learner’s understanding. Learners need practice time, including follow-up review and feedback from others. No one at Life Steps should ever have to work without receiving learning support. What we learn at Life Steps should be constant, consistent and congruent with clients’ needs and aligned with our strategic plan. As learners, we must increase our knowledge within the Life Steps mission, vision, core values and beliefs. This learning style is a powerful tool for transformation, critical to our goal of quality assurance and to becoming the best service provider in California.

As part of the Life Steps Learning Philosophy we encourage all Life Steps partners to take an active role in the overall strategic planning process. To review your specific affiliate/business or the overall Life Steps Foundation strategic plan we encourage you to access these documents on Share Point.