1. Why Values Often Look Stronger on Paper Than in Reality
Over the past weeks in The Executive Briefing, we’ve explored company culture – what it truly means, how to create values that work, and why they must be specific and realistic.
Today, I want to focus on a point many leaders underestimate: values don’t just need to be defined – they need to be defended. Every day. Against pragmatism, against time pressure – and sometimes even against well-intentioned ideas. Only then do they make a real difference.
A value that looks great on the wall but is repeatedly broken in daily life is not just ineffective – it actively undermines your culture.
2. A Value That Went Against the Industry Norm
In my former agency group, we made a deliberate choice to anchor one core value that set us apart from many executive search firms: No internal competition.
The goal was clear: focus not on the “top biller” or “monthly champion,” but on achieving the best results for clients and candidates – something only possible through genuine collaboration.
For example: if a recruiting team found an excellent candidate who didn’t fit their own search, they didn’t “save” them for later. They shared them with other teams. Sometimes that meant another colleague would close the placement – but in the end, the collective result was what mattered.
We called this value Ambition Meets Quality: holding ourselves to the highest standards – but without constantly measuring ourselves against others.
3. The Daily Defense of Values
Sounds simple, right? In practice, it wasn’t. More than once, I found myself in debates over why we shouldn’t create rankings of top performers, crown a “Consultant of the Month,” or publish individual statistics.
Of course, those things can be motivating. And yes, performance should be rewarded. But in our case, doing so would have directly contradicted the value we had defined. And once you make that compromise, the value starts to erode.
A value doesn’t lose its impact only when it’s completely ignored – it begins to lose power the moment it’s not applied consistently.
4. The Small Exceptions That Change Everything
Here’s the hard part: the biggest threats to your values often aren’t the big decisions – they’re the small exceptions.
One day, a sales leaderboard is created “just to see where we stand.”
One day, a bonus is paid based on individual revenue “because the performance was just so exceptional.”
One day, a piece of information is withheld “to give our team a slight advantage.”
Every one of these exceptions sends a message: the value applies – but not always. And teams pick up on that very quickly.
5. Consistency Is the Real Litmus Test for Values
Defining a value is easy. Explaining it in a workshop is still easy. But living it consistently – especially when it’s inconvenient – that’s true leadership.
And yes – sometimes you still bend the rules, though ideally not in the work context. In our case, the only exception was the annual table tennis tournament: there was a winner. But at least it was a doubles team – because even there, teamwork came first.
6. My recommandation
Look at your company values – and for each one, ask yourself:
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Is this value applied consistently, even when it’s hard, unpopular, or in conflict with other important priorities?
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Are there moments when we knowingly or quietly break it?
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If we defended it every time, what decisions would be different?
Values don’t work because they’re written down.
They work because they’re defended – every day, in every decision.
