When I was growing up, my grandparents played a huge role in my life. With two working parents, they were a mainstay in my daily routine.

Each morning before school, my grandmother would prepare breakfast, and growing up in the rural south we’d always repeat the Lord’s Prayer.

Hungry, I’d complain that we say the same thing over and over again. My grandma would retort, “doesn’t make it any less important.”

Repetition didn’t spoil the prayer.

I’ve recently found myself reading Jeff Bezos’ annual shareholder letters, and if nothing else, the man was consistent during his time as CEO. 

Each year, the letters contained some basic form of the same message:

• Amazon will always on free cash flow per share

• Amazon will always strive to offer the best price

• Amazon will always place the customer first

• Amazon is a long-term investment and will re-invest free cash flow entrepreneurially

During his 20 years as the CEO of Amazon, the message never deviated from these core principles. As a result, the company enjoyed more patience from shareholders than any other company during that period. 

The result was a trust from investors that lowered the cost of capital to invest and take risks. They made large bets that failed (cough, Fire Phone, cough) and some that paid off in big ways, like AWS.

It’s a great reminder that we can never over-communicate or repeat the same message too often. We all have shareholders that we should repeatedly share our vision and operating philosophy with. They usually only hear from us quarterly, so repetition doesn’t water down the message in the way we think it does.

As leaders, our colleagues need to hear the messages repeatedly, too. These north stars make difficult decisions easy. At Energize, we have 5 of these core values on the wall in our kitchen so that we see them every day and an order of operations to put them into practice. This combination guides every major decision.

These messages can’t just be words on a wall. They must be authentic and demonstrated daily by leadership. When we live these messages, we set the example for those who have made the biggest investment of all – choosing to spend their time and careers with us.