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Within People
A Guide to Bringing Values to Life

© 2019 Within People2
How do you define your values to drive growth and
begin to live them in your culture?
We help leaders all around the world grow the company they love.
This guide was designed for leaders who use culture to drive their
business forward, but are struggling to get values to work for
them. By sharing a few principles of how we help our clients
define, engage and lead with values, we hope to help your
business grow too!

© 2019 Within People
Values
What we stand for
Our guiding behaviours
How we do what we do
What they should be:
A set of actionable statements
The things we are held accountable for
As a set, unique to us
What they aren't:
More than four
Nouns, adjectives or words like "trust" and "honesty"
Only about us - values must connect to customers too
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Aren’t values just the fluffy, touchy
feely words we put up on our walls?
No! Values are strategic. They define the common
behaviours that everyone in the culture are expected
to show up to. They help us play like a world class
team, make confident decisions, and measure the
quality of our work.
“Transforming a culture isn’t about professing a set of values and operating principles. It’s a
matter of identifying the behaviours that you would like to see become consistent practices
and then instilling the discipline of actually doing them.”
- Patty McCord, Netflix
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Bringing values to life
Ten principles to guide you
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Principle #1
Defining values
Values are the power
inside your business
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Think of values as your super powers or your
secret sauce. They are the set of behaviours
that guide the business to your vision and
deliver your purpose.
To find your values, consider what your most
important strengths are as a team. Then connect
these to what you know your customers value
most about you.
Explore the connection between what both your
team and your customers see as most important
to creating impact.

Principle #2
Defining values
They are
actionable
Values are not beliefs. They are a translation of
what we believe into the way we do things.
Values must be verbs in order to demonstrate
“how” we do what we do.
For example, “innovation” does not set an
expectation of what we are meant to do. Make it
actionable by going a bit deeper to express how you
uniquely innovate. “Imagine it better” is one of
MOO.com's values, demonstrating to everyone that
imagination is expected in the culture.
Use statements that describe how you do what you
do by starting with verbs that describe action.

Trust
Integrity
Care
Passion
Honesty
Innovation
Trust isn’t a value — it’s an
outcome that results when your
people see you living your
values and keeping promises.
People will “have integrity”
when they show up to values
that mean something to them.
Simply “caring” is not a value —
it should be expected that we
care a lot about what we do.
How do you treat people to
show you care?
It’s almost impossible to ask
someone to be passionate
about something. Our passion
lives in purpose.
A business that isn’t honest is
lying to itself and the people it
serves. That business has no
license to operate.
Innovation is essential for all
businesses to succeed in the long
term. Your values should speak
to how you innovate.
Six words that are not values
Qualities that should exist in every business

They are common to
everyone in the
company
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Principle #3
Defining values
Our values go beyond geography, location, and
different sectors of the business.
We don’t have different values for different teams or
subcultures. One set guides us all - though as a
team we can build our own meaning into our values
to connect to how we use them to deliver our work.
The UNESCO MAB programme has almost 700
sites around the world, led by people of vastly
different cultural backgrounds. They are connected
by their shared values, not by what sets them apart
from each other.
Unite your team around what’s common, not what’s
different.

Principle #4
Defining values
Values are about
authenticity
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When we show up as ourselves, we are
authentic. That automatically
differentiates us.
Our values are with us for the long term.
They help to define our identity. As we
grow to meet the needs of those we serve,
our positioning in the market might change
but our DNA does not.
Define values that are true - not different
from your competitors.

Case Study: Amy’s Kitchen
Amy’s is a family-run organic food business,
founded 30 years ago in the California home of
Andy and Rachel Berliner. Today the business
employs thousands, with annual sales over $300m.
In a time of change, the Berliners wanted to codify
what’s made them special over the years - and to
ensure this culture lives on across future generations.
Getting values that were actionable was key to
understanding the Amy’s magic. These values needed
to work for teams in head office, as well as the
hundreds of staff working to create their product.
See Andy & Rachel talk about Amy's values in the
video they made to share their story.
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Principle #5
Engaging the team
Values are
memorable
They can be counted on one hand. Four is the
magic number.
While great values-driven companies like
Zappos might have ten, keeping it simple is
your best bet!
Avoid turning your set of values into an
acronym - this actually makes them harder to
engage with because people forget what they
mean and just remember the shortcut instead.
To live up to our values, everyone must be able
to remember them.

Everyone can share
examples of values
in action
Principle #6
Engaging the team
Storytelling is the most powerful way of
building meaning into your values.
No matter where someone works in the
business, they will be able to tell a story about
how they see the values being lived every day.
Leaders should use these stories to help people
connect to what is expected in the culture.
Stories give proof that the values are real and
lived in the business.

Principle #7
Engaging the team
We can commit to
them and be held
accountable
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Values are behaviours - so it is clear when people
are living up to them.
Everyone in the business must commit to them, and
so we need to keep them alive and front of mind. We
also need to constantly reconnect to what they mean.
Values can be measured, used alongside OKRs and
help to guide personal development plans. It’s up to
everyone in the business to demonstrate the
behaviours of the culture.
The more our values are referred to every day, the
more we get out of them.

Case Study: British Land
The British Land Company has existed for over 150
years, and has been through its fair share of
transformation over that time.
Recently the FTSE100 property company has
embarked on a cultural evolution, driven by the
definition of its purpose and the shifting role it must
play in a changing society.
Defining their values was critical to building belief in
the next chapter of their success. The values are the
foundation to guide a process of rapid change in a
large, established company.
“Now that we have our values right, they are known,
lived and enduring” - Ann Henshaw, HR Director
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They help us make
decisions
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Principle #8
Leading through values
Values are strategic.
They can shape our creative processes, help us
choose the right investors, attract the best talent,
and guide us to answer the difficult questions when
times get tough.
One&Only Resorts have transformed their values
into a service philosophy that is helping them hire.
It’s informed an innovative new recruitment
process, and gives managers clear indicators of
which candidates are the best fit for the culture.
Put your values to the test by having the team
practice using them to make decisions.

Values create
impact
Principle #9
Values aren’t only behaviours for how we
show up at work. They show how we deliver
our work.
They are us working at our best. They are
aspirational and with the ambition to stretch us
to achieve great things. Our values help us be
the best we can be - to make a big impact on
the lives of the people we serve.
Make a clear connection to how your values
create impact and help you to deliver on your
purpose.

Principle #10
Values and our
culture drive growth
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They grow our business, and they help us grow
ourselves.
Values keep us on track while we navigate the future.
Get your values right and they will serve you for the
long term. As the DNA of our culture, they give us a
way to move confidently forward to our vision and
grow the company we love.
“It’s the humanity of a company that is going to create
the long term value. Without humanity and without
values, you end up with a company that perhaps
makes money, but doesn’t stand for anything and
really has nothing to be proud of.
So, lead with your heart.” - Howard Shultz, Starbucks

The Values Principles
Are your values your super powers?
Are they actionable behaviours?
Do they describe what is common in the culture?
Can you count them on one hand?
Are they truly authentic to you?
Can people tell stories about them in action?
Will they help you deliver on your purpose?
Can they guide how you grow?
Can you use them to make decisions?
Can people be held accountable to them?
Use this checklist to help you define your values - you should answer YES to every question!
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Visit us to find out more:
withinpeople.com
Within People is an international
partnership that helps people
find their purpose and grow

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Within People - A Guide to Bringing Values to Life

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