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How to Pick Value Words for your company: A Simple Guide for Team Leaders
posted in Business Coaching
Adam Kreek
Why This Matters
Values aren’t just lofty ideals—they’re the “how we do things” of your team. They shape culture, decision‑making, and everyday interactions. As I explored in my earlier post, Discovering Core Values for Your Company, Team, or Organization, values are the invisible levers that drive results and resilience.
This post lays out the how—a clear, practical method to help any team generate the right language for what matters most. Values are "how we do things around here," and this post shows you how to better articulate the how.
Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, in their classic book Built to Last, suggest a powerful way to uncover organizational values: the “Mission to Mars” exercise. They invite leaders to imagine they are sending a small group of people from their company on a mission to Mars to represent the organization’s culture. The question is: who would you choose?
The chosen individuals shouldn’t just be the top performers or the most experienced—they should embody the very essence of the company’s values in their behaviour, decisions, and interactions. By examining what makes those people the best representatives of the organization, teams can uncover the enduring values that truly define “how we do things around here.”
Collins and Porras stress that values are not aspirational ideals or marketing slogans; they are the authentic, guiding principles already lived by the best people in the organization when it is at its best.
1. Brainstorm: Let Words Flow Freely
Flip the script on tired prompts and ask questions that tap into real experience:
- What do you consistently uphold at work, even when it’s not rewarded?
- What does our team stand for—when no one’s watching?
- What do our clients or customers believe we stand for?
- What values has our company held onto when times got tough?
You can even distribute a list of value words for people to look over and choose from.
“Culture makes people understand each other better. And if they understand each other better? Soul-to-soul? Barriers come down, work gets done.”
With a design‑thinking mindset, encourage everyone to list as many value words as possible—don’t edit or censor. Get endpoint values (what goals you have) AND in‑state values (how you actually show up). Remember:
Values are not aspirational—they are the best traits you already demonstrate under pressure.
2. Cluster Like with Like
Once the room or virtual whiteboard is full of words, group similar ones together:
- Integrity, honesty, transparency → Integrity
- Collaboration, teamwork, partnership → Collaboration
- Excellence, mastery, craftsmanship → Excellence
This step turns a long list into clear concepts that reflect how your team truly behaves and expects each other to act.
3. Choose the 3–5 Core Values
Too many values dilute focus. Pick three to five that best define your team at its finest:
- Are these values enduring, not tied to a single project or era?
- Are they distinctive—not interchangeable or vague?
- Would choosing these guide real decisions, even when it’s uncomfortable?
Robert Glazer argues that core values are non‑negotiables—“swim lanes” that guide behavior—and the true test comes when upholding them causes short‑term discomfort
Choose values that pass this test.
What’s Next: More from This Series
This blog focuses on picking value words. But it’s part one of a three-post series:
- How to Pick Value Words (that’s this one)
- Testing the Ecology of Your Values – How to ensure these values fit together, don’t create unresolvable tension, and strengthen decision-making
- Putting Values to Work – How to make values tangible in hiring, performance, onboarding, and daily choices—to build a culture that hires better people, supports better decisions, and delivers better service
In Summary
Step 1: Brainstorm Freely
Ask powerful questions that dig into real behaviour and beliefs.
Step 2: Cluster
Group similar terms together to reveal core concepts.
Step 3: Select
Choose 3–5 values that are authentic, actionable, and enduring.
This is where values begin—not in a mission statement, but in honest conversation. Values are not about who you want to become—they are about who you already are when your team is at its best. And that’s where meaningful culture starts.
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Adam Kreek is on a mission to positively impact organizational cultures and leaders who make things happen.
Kreek is an Executive Business Coach who lives in Victoria, BC, near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Seattle, Washington, USA, in the Pacific Northwest. He works with clients globally, often travelling to California in the San Francisco Bay Area, Atlanta, Georgia, Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. He is an Olympic Gold Medalist, a storied adventurer and a father.
He authored the bestselling business book, The Responsibility Ethic: 12 Strategies Exceptional People Use to Do the Work and Make Success Happen.
Discover our thoughts on Values here.
Want to increase your leadership achievement? Learn more about Kreek’s coaching here.
Want to book a keynote that leaves a lasting impact? Learn more about Kreek’s live event service here.