The Capella Values Series: Honesty, Integrity, and Continued Growth

At Capella, we live by seven different values: honesty and integrity; continued growth; quality; aiming high and bold; community; creativity; and accountability. It’s a long list, so we decided to start a blog series that dives into what each value means. In this series, different team members will discuss one (or more!) of the values that mean the most to them.

I am kicking off the series with a post about my favorite Capella values: honesty and integrity, and continued growth. Here’s how we describe each of them internally:

• Honesty & Integrity — We do the right thing, even if it is harder. We put our egos aside and seek what is best for Capella as a whole. We are transparent, direct, honest, and don’t hide our opinions.
• Continued Growth — We are a learning organization and constantly seek to improve. We aren’t embarrassed by our mistakes. We communicate and learn from them so we grow.

Both of these values resonate with me because they align with my personal ethic. My most significant value at work is to do what is right, even when nobody is looking. Throughout my career, I’ve been on a mission to take pride in my work. It’s a reflection of not just the company that I represent, but also — and just as importantly — a reflection of me.

I am also a firm believer that everybody should be in a constant state of learning. No matter our walk of life or amount of experience, we can always learn from each other. Ultimately, this ability makes us stronger as a unit with diverse backgrounds coming together to share experiences and collaborate.

Even before I joined Capella, it was clear to me how much this team values honesty and growth. During my interview process, Payam expressed his commitment to working with our People Team to improve diversity, equality, and inclusion. To me, this openness is a sign of both of these values.

I’ve seen honesty and growth manifested remotely too. Team members of all levels are eager to increase communication methods so they can maintain social connections and collaborate remotely during the COVID pandemic. While remote work has been a challenging adjustment for some companies, Capella has been thoughtful and communicative about its approach.

After many states issued shelter-in-place directives, Capella’s leadership team acted quickly to conduct a survey to get a pulse on how team members are adjusting and coping during COVID. The company also launched a phased plan to return to the office and communicated clearly about what that process would look like. The leadership team asked team members to be honest about what they’d be comfortable with. This responsiveness is a sign of us growing as a team through a challenging time that we are all experiencing for the first time together.

I see honesty, integrity, and growth put into practice at Capella every day. We have many other great values, too, so check back in with our blog in the coming weeks to read about other teammates’ favorite ones.

About Jenn Sadler

Jenn Sadler is the senior director of people operations at Capella Space. She has a background in human resources, facilities, and recruiting. Prior to joining the Capella Space team, Jenn was the senior director of people operations at Abstract, a design workflow platform.