Most companies have Core Values.
Fewer have the rightCore Values.
And very few actually use them well.
And that’s a huge problem, because Core Values are supposed to be the foundation of your culture – your cultural DNA. They should guide who gets hired, who gets fired, who gets recognized, rewarded, and promoted. In short, they’re how you build a team that reflects your company’s soul.
If you’ve ever watched your culture drift as your business grew, or felt your “values” had become wallpaper slogans, you’re not alone. Many leadership teams go through the motions of defining values or roll them out in ways that never stick. What could have been your greatest strength becomes just another missed opportunity.
In EOS® and other strong operating systems, Core Values aren’t decorative. They’re practical tools for clarity, alignment, and accountability. But only if you get them right.
Below are two brutally honest checklists drawn from years of real-world experience helping entrepreneurial leadership teams uncover and live their Core Values.
How Defining Your Core Values Can Go Wrong
The first trap: defining the wrong values—or defining them the wrong way. Here are the most common missteps:
Strategic Misfires
1. Aspirational over actual: You pick values you wishwere true instead of discovering what’s already alive in your best people.
2. Copy-pasting from someone else’s website: This isn’t branding. Core Values are deeply personal, and hard-earned.
3. Creating a laundry list: More than 7 values? You’re not creating focus – you’re creating fog.
Language Pitfalls
4. Using buzzwords and clichés: “Excellence” and “Innovation” sound great. But what do they actually mean inside your culture?
5. Choosing vague or overlapping terms:Each value should be distinct and recognizable in action.
6. Mistaking skills or habits for values: “Works hard” or “Strong communicator” are traits, not deeply held beliefs.
Leadership Blind Spots
7. Skipping team buy-in: The Visionary can’t do this alone. The whole leadership team must wrestle and align.
8. Picking values you’re unwilling to hire/fire for: If they don’t guide your people decisions, they’re slogans.
9. Confusing norms with non-negotiables: “Has fun” might be part of your vibe, but is it something you’d fire someone over?
10. Not testing them in real life: Can you name 3 people who live each value – and 1 who doesn’t? If not, keep working.
💡 As Patrick Lencioni puts it, Core Values should represent “minimum behavioral standards.” They’re not marketing slogans—they’re lines in the sand.
Self-check: If you nodded “yep” to three or more of these, your Core Values may not be fully baked yet.
How Rolling Out and Using Core Values Can Go Wrong
Even if you’ve nailed the right values, most companies stumble when bringing them to life.
Here’s where it breaks down:
Lack of Follow-Through
1. Never bringing them up again: They’re printed on the wall… and then forgotten.
2. Only reviewing them once a year: If Core Values aren’t referenced weekly, they’re fading.
3. Not recognizing great behavior: Catch people living the values, and share those stories.
Misalignment in Practice
4. Leaders not walking the talk: If leadership violates your values, no one else will live by them.
5. Not using them in people decisions: The EOS People Analyzer™ helps score team members objectively. Use it.
6. Letting violators stay: Even top performers must go if they’re cultural misfits.
Operational Gaps
7. Treating them like onboarding checkboxes: New hires should experienceyour values from day one.
8. Not measuring alignment: Use Quarterly Conversations (an EOS alignment/performance check-in) regularly.
9. Ignoring them during Issue solving: In IDS® (Identify–Discuss–Solve), values should guide decisions.
10. Using them as weapons: Don’t twist values into a judgment stick. Use them for clarity and coaching.
So What’s the Right Way?
Based on my experience, and pure EOS process, this is what your path forward should look like:
- Uncover your true Core Values: not the trendy ones, but the ones your best people embody.
- Use the People Analyzer™ to ensure you’ve got the Right People.
- Recognize Core Values champions publicly and often.
- Tell Core Values stories whenever you can – in your Level 10 Meetings™ and every State of the Company meeting.
- Fire when they’re violated. Hire only when they’re present.
Done right, Core Values aren’t just words—they become your ultimate people filter, clarifying decision-making, strengthening culture, and attracting the right people.
And if you’re not sure how to uncover those true values, EOS Implementers use a simple but powerful method to reveal what’s real, not what’s trendy.
Want Help Getting This Right?
This is exactly the kind of work I love doing with leadership teams: uncovering the real Core Values and helping leaders embed them into the fabric of their businesses.
If your Core Values don’t feel fully alive, or you’re not sure you’ve nailed them, let’s talk. I can guide you through a proven, practical process that transforms “words on a wall” into a living, breathing culture.
✅ Core Values done rightsimplify decisions, strengthen your team, and create a culture that endures.
❌ Core Values done wrong are, at best, just another missed opportunity.
The difference is how you define them—and how you live them.