Ten years ago, if you had asked me about my values, I would have struggled to articulate them. During my coach training, I identified five values I felt comfortable with, only to be told by my tutor that he didn’t think that they were the right ones for me, without any explanation of why or what might be more fitting.
This highlights a common challenge: values often feel abstract. People compile lists of appealing words, but rarely dig deeper into what truly matters to them. About five years ago, I invested time in clarifying my own values, and I’m confident in them—despite occasional feedback, such as surprise that “family” isn’t included. While family is important to me, it doesn’t guide my decisions.
As for company values, I used to be sceptical. Too often, organisations present polished lists created by marketing teams, featuring predictable terms like “Integrity” and “Team work”, neither of which hold any real meaning for people.
I once worked for a company with admirable values rooted in a compelling story. They were great in principle but almost no one, except the chairman, could recall them without a prompt. This was frustrating as they also linked to desired behaviours and acted as a guiding set of expectations. These could have been used for many situations especially those difficult conversations people need to have, where the performance is great, but everyone else is left with a nasty taste. Alas, because the values were too difficult to recall, they were rarely used… such a missed opportunity.
What a contrast when I supported The West Group in 2025, at the start of a programme designed for them by Focal Point Training. The organisation began from a positive place by involving all staff in identifying key words to describe the company, what they liked about working there and why they might recommend it to others. This produced some strong descriptions – but these still needed to be synthesised from a bit of a jumble into something punchy and coherent. Our workshop helped them to do that. They distilled everything into three simple words – using the initial letters of the company name TWG: Together We Grow. Suddenly, concepts like respectful, inclusive, collaborative, agile and accountable aligned easily under the overarching value and perfectly supported their vision and mission. It was as if the lights had been turned on. Suddenly everything made sense!
The overarching value and underpinning ones have been used to tweak the business plan and strategy, drive recruitment, customer interactions, employee engagement and performance reviews. They are visible everywhere, including painted on the wall. But more importantly they are understood and are used.
Lessons Learned:
Defining organisational values
- Ask employees what keeps them engaged—and what might drive them away.
- Explore what truly inspires them.
- Avoid jargon; keep values simple, authentic, and memorable.
- Ensure people understand what the values look like in a day to day context
- Integrate values into every aspect of the business: communication, recruitment, performance reviews, and daily operations.
- Make them central to your culture, not just words on the website.
This experience also prompted me to revisit my own values and confirm that my work aligns with them. For the most part, it does—and that alignment serves as a reliable compass.
Defining Your Personal Values
If you want to clarify your own values…
- start with a broad list—either online or using physical cards with potential value words
- narrow the list to about ten, then compare two at a time: if you could only keep one, which would you choose?
- if it’s helpful, l think of two suitcases. You can only take one, which would it be?
- repeat this process until you identify your top three.
- be honest with yourself. Your values are unique to you and may differ from what others expect.
- once defined, pay attention to how they resonate in your daily life and whether they still feel aligned.
- values can evolve, so revisit them periodically to ensure they reflect who you are now.
For more information on how Focal Point can support you in creating the culture you want – either through defining values from scratch, identifying underpinning behaviours or bringing existing behaviours to life – contact us on 01903 732 782
You may also be interested in what other clients say about our approach and our blog about the dangers of misaligned values