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Why Your Company’s Values Aren’t What You Think They Are
Let’s be honest—we’ve all been there. Sitting through yet another corporate presentation, watching an endless stream of PowerPoint slides float by. Somewhere between the obligatory pie charts and product pitches, a slide pops up proudly declaring the company’s “core values.” Most people glance at it, nod politely, and wait for the “real” content to appear—the performance numbers, new strategies, or product updates.
But here’s a question we rarely ask in that moment:
“Where did these values actually come from?”
And more often than not, if you do ask, the answer is something like:
“They’re on our website.”
That answer alone tells you everything.
At Gugin, we’ve been working with companies around the world on cultural transformation since 2001. And one of the first things we do in any project is this simple exercise: we ask a mix of employees and managers to write down their company’s official values.
Guess what? Around 95% get them wrong.
The 5% who get them right? They were in the room when the values were created.
That says a lot.
You Can’t Define Values—You Have to Live Them
Here’s the truth most companies miss: values can’t be defined in a PowerPoint presentation.
They can’t just be announced or uploaded. They don’t come alive because someone wrote a clever sentence on a slide.
Think about your own family. Do you have a mission and values deck hanging by the fridge? Probably not. But you all know what matters. Those values were shaped over time—by stories, priorities, arguments, sacrifices, and shared experiences.
Companies are no different.
Real values are not what you say—they’re what you do.
And more importantly, they only count as values if you’re willing to give something up for them.
Take “customer satisfaction,” for instance. We hear it all the time. But if a company isn’t prepared to sacrifice short-term profits to deliver a truly customer-first experience, then it’s just a slogan. Not a value.
When Values Are Real, Everyone Knows
Every now and then, we walk into an organisation where something feels different.
Recently, we worked with a hotel group to assess their cultural DNA. From top management to front desk staff, nearly everyone could clearly articulate the company’s values.
But here’s the interesting part: none of them pointed to the company website or a slide deck.
Instead, they told stories. They gave real-life examples of how people behave, what gets celebrated, and what gets corrected. You could see their pride and conviction. That’s when you know values are real—they’re lived and felt, not memorised.
Values Save You When Times Get Tough
There’s a beautiful alignment that happens when values are more than words.
People say what they mean.
They do what they say.
And they’re recognised for doing the right things, not just the profitable things.
James L. Heskett introduced the Service-Profit Chain back in 1997. His research showed that satisfied employees lead to satisfied customers, which leads to increased profits. And yes—it works in reverse, too.
When employees feel the values are authentic and upheld, they engage more. They stay longer. And when the storm hits—as it inevitably will—they don’t jump ship. They dig in and help the company weather it.
You Don’t Declare Values—You Grow Them
Here’s the bottom line:
Your company’s values aren’t something you define in a meeting. They’re shaped by how you behave, the decisions you make, and what you prioritise every single day.
If you don’t like the values in your organisation, you can’t just rewrite them.
You need to change the behaviours that create them.
And when your values are truly aligned with your culture, you won’t need to put them on a slide.
Everyone will already know what they are—because they’re living them.
