Your Core Values Aren’t A Poster. They’re A Filter.

Here’s a question I love asking leadership teams:

“What percentage of your people live your core values? Not just agree with them.

Live them. Exemplify them.

Most teams go quiet.

They can read their values off their company wall. They’ve just never measured who’s living them and who’s putting up with them.

I ask my clients to aim for 80% or higher. Not because 80 is the finish line. Because a real number beats a good feeling every time.

 How to tell your values have gone quiet:

→ Everyone might know the words, but nobody can tell you a story that proves them.
→ The same “high performer” gets a pass every quarter.
→ Everyone privately agrees on who doesn’t fit, but nobody says it out loud.

Core Values are your “Code of Conduct”

What it takes to make them real:

1. Make them specific enough to cost something.
2. Measure them: Run your team through the People Analyzer; are they at the bar, below the bar, or above the bar?
3. Say them out loud. Praise it when you see it. Name it when you don’t. Clear is kind.
4. Act fast on misalignment, especially with your top producers.

That last one stings a bit, doesn’t it?

A high performer who’s the wrong core value fit shows everyone what you’ll tolerate. The real cost? Your most values-aligned people are the first to leave.

Culture isn’t what’s on the wall. It’s what you’re willing to act on. It’s what is walking your halls. Right fit or Wrong fit?