"Culture is the values that you hold dear, that you know your colleagues do as well."
Patty McCord
Netflix Leader
- Date
How to Put Values to Work in Your Organization
posted in Business Coaching
Adam Kreek
Why We Fail to Live Our Values
Most organizations don’t fail because they pick the wrong values. They fail because they don’t know how to put them into action. 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.
There are four common reasons values never make it off the wall:
We don’t integrate them simply.
If values aren’t woven into daily routines, they won’t stick in organizational culture—or in personal lives.
We don’t know them.
The values are buried in a binder or poster, but not in people’s minds.
We don’t clarify the behaviours.
Without clear actions, goals, and strategies, values remain vague ideals.
We let selfish desires win.
Personal agendas compete with contribution motivations, creating conflict.
8 Examples of How Clients Activated Their Values
Over the years, I’ve seen creative and practical ways leaders make their values real. A few favourites:
- Decision Matrix: Teams used a matrix that prioritized values in decision-making, so everyone knew which value came first when conflicts arose.
- Videos: Short internal videos reinforced values with real stories, making them memorable.
- Staff Awards: Employees received pins or badges for living the values—a small but powerful public recognition.
- Values Shout-Out Board: Recognition moved beyond “good job” to “great job living our value of collaboration.”
- Biweekly Recognition: Leaders highlighted examples of values in action during regular check-ins.
- Values-Driven Agendas: Team meetings were structured around values, aligning discussion topics with culture.
- Screensavers: Computer lock screens reinforced values visually, keeping them top-of-mind.
- Quarterly Themes: Each quarter, the organization focused on one value, creating depth and rhythm.
8 more Practical Ways to Put Values to Work
The slides you’ve seen boil down to one truth: values must be lived, not laminated. Here are concrete strategies:
- Promote Values on Your Website
Your values act like a homing beacon. They attract people who share your culture and repel those who don’t. Make them visible. - Make Sure Leadership Embodies Values
If leaders don’t live the values, employees won’t either. Build values into performance reviews—especially for leadership. - Bring Values to Life Through Storytelling
Stories stick. Share moments where people lived the values. Encourage staff to share their own. This keeps values fresh. - Reinforce Values Consistently
Distribute values, reference them in meetings, create visual reminders, and celebrate behaviours that align. Consistency transforms values from slogans into culture. - Defend and Uphold Them
If someone repeatedly breaches a value, act. Letting it slide signals that values are optional, which erodes trust. - Hire for Values
Skills can be trained. Values cannot. Hire for alignment with your core values—even if it means passing on a technically brilliant candidate. - Educate Continuously
Don’t assume people know what values mean. Educate regularly. Run workshops, discussions, and refreshers. - Define and Articulate Clearly
Each value should be paired with behaviours, examples, and context. The clearer the explanation, the easier it is for your team to live it.
Why This Matters
When values are clear, tested, and lived, they stop being “aspirational” and start being operational. They show up in who you hire, how you make decisions, how you reward effort, and how you lead in crisis.
Values are not static words—they are behaviours, practices, and habits that create a culture where people thrive and organizations endure.
You Make Values Matter
Values only matter when they move from the wall to the work.
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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.
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