Values Are Meaningless Unless You Embed Them in Your Culture

Introduction

‘Lead on safety, quality, integrity and sustainability’ is proudly promoted on Boeing’s website [1]. Ironically, the same company once praised for its engineering excellence and innovation is now criticized for putting profits ahead of its values.

After two fatal 737 Max crashes, investigations exposed serious failures in Boeing’s safety protocols and internal culture. The company had drifted away from its commitment to engineering integrity, favoring short-term financial gain instead.

The result was a sharp erosion of both reputation and trust [2]. Such a disconnect between stated values and corporate actions is common; too often, values amount to little more than slogans or become pliable under pressure.

This article explores why values often fail when they remain superficial, and how leaders can embed values systemically, so they truly shape behavior. I’ll cover real-world examples, from the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team to the U.S. Marine Corps, from coach Phil Jackson’s championship basketball teams to Dutch retailer Coolblue, to see how values come alive through deliberate application. These cases, along with a ‘systems’ perspective I discussed in a previous article on feedback, will inform practical steps for leaders. By the end, it should be clear that making values stick requires more than cheerleading; it demands thoughtful integration into hiring, training, performance management, rituals, and decision making.

When Values Are Just Words

Many organizations treat values as a one-off exercise. During the inception of a company, leaders define a set of inspiring statements, slap them on a wall, and expect the culture to follow. The predictable result is employee cynicism or detachment because people often see the gap between what’s preached and what’s practiced.

For example, a company might declare ‘Customer First’ as a value, yet employees notice that decisions continuously prioritize short-term revenue at the customer’s expense. Or a company might evangelize ‘Empowerment’ while stripping teams of decision-making power. That kind of disconnection erodes trust quickly.

If values are only referenced on the website or buried in employee guides—and not reflected in how people are hired, led, or shown appreciation—they remain performative. Values are meaningless unless they are connected to behaviors and built into your policies and processes.

When values don’t shape the system, they fail. A company might say it values ‘innovation,’ but punish mistakes. Or push ‘teamwork,’ while rewarding only individual performance. That’s when people get the real message: hit your numbers and play it safe.

Think in Systems, Not Slogans

The key to avoiding the ‘values in name only’ trap is to treat values not as isolated ideals, but as an integral part of the system of how the organization operates.

In a previous article, I emphasized the importance of taking a systemic view of feedback, where structures and actions reinforce desired behaviors instead of relying on one-off efforts. The same principle applies to values. Leaders need to weave them into the fabric of the company’s structures, habits, and culture.

Taking a systems lens means asking, ‘How do our daily practices reflect (or contradict) our stated values?’ It means building feedback loops that catch when behaviors drift from the values and creating mechanisms that keep them active and visible.

When values shape hiring, onboarding, everyday routines, decisions, and even the stories people tell, they gain staying power. That’s how abstract words become concrete habits.

Let’s examine a few organizations known for doing this and draw out lessons from each.

Values in Action: Lessons from Value Driven Organizations

The All Blacks: Humility and Team First

The New Zealand All Blacks are one of the most successful teams in sports history, winning nearly 77% of their 637 test matches [3].

Their continuous excellence isn’t just due to skill; it comes from a strong culture grounded in explicit core values.

One famous All Blacks value is humility and personal responsibility, captured in the motto ‘sweep the sheds.’ After each game, no matter how well they played, All Blacks players clean up their locker room (the ‘shed’) themselves. Even star players grab brooms. It’s a ritual that reinforces humility and team equality. As the All Blacks say: ‘Never be too big to do the small things that need to be done.’ This simple practice integrates the value into daily life and is far more powerful than just saying ‘Be humble.’

Another All Blacks principle is character over talent. They famously have a ‘no dickheads’ rule, meaning they will drop even the most talented player if they lack the right attitude or undermine team culture. This shows how seriously they live their values: selection and retention are tied directly to character and adherence to team ethos, not just performance.

The team also uses symbols and stories to uphold their values, such as the phrase ‘leaving the jersey in a better place,’ which reminds players they are caretakers of a legacy.

Through shared traditions (like the Maori haka before matches) and constant messaging that ‘the team comes first, no one is bigger than the team,’ the All Blacks ingrain their values into every member. The payoff is a self-sustaining culture where players hold themselves and each other accountable to those standards, even when coaches aren’t watching [adapted from [4]].

U.S. Marines: Values Forged in Training

The U.S. Marine Corps shows what it looks like when values are built into the bones of an organization.

From the first day of boot camp, recruits are immersed in the Marines’ core principles: Honor, Courage, and Commitment [5]. These values aren’t abstract ideals but rather embedded into how Marines train, behave, and lead. Discipline takes root early through routines like drill formations, saluting, and ceremonial practice. These rituals then cultivate respect for chain of command and a strong sense of unity, and in doing so, they anchor the group in shared standards of excellence and dedication.

Beyond drills, Marines are regularly challenged to explore the ethical aspect of their work. They discuss real-world dilemmas involving leadership, accountability, and life-or-death decisions, therefore developing the moral reasoning needed to act with integrity under pressure.

Values are also passed down informally. Senior Marines are expected to mentor those coming up behind them, not only in skills but in mindset and conduct. This expectation reinforces that everyone plays a role in sustaining the culture, and that Commitment includes showing up for your peers.

Perhaps the most defining experience is the Crucible, a grueling 54-hour final test that pushes recruits to their physical and emotional limits. They can’t succeed alone; teamwork, resolve, and courage are necessary. Completing it earns them the Marine emblem: the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, in a ceremony that marks their transformation. The ceremony may be symbolic, but it marks entry into a tradition where values are expected to be lived, not recited.

The Marine Corps builds culture through repetition, relationships, and shared trials that make those values stick. Once learned, they rarely fade, and because of this internalization, many Marines carry them for life.

Phil Jackson’s Teams: Mindfulness and ‘We Over Me’

In professional basketball, few coaches have shaped team culture as profoundly as Phil Jackson. Over his career, he led the Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers to a combined 11 NBA championships, not just by coaching talent, but by building a values-driven environment.

Jackson became known as the ‘Zen Master’ for his distinctive leadership style grounded in mindfulness, humility, and collective purpose.

Working with some of the most dominant and ego-driven athletes of all time like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal, Jackson didn’t try to control them. Instead, he channeled their energy into a shared mindset: the team above the individual.

One of Jackson’s core principles was ‘We over Me,’ and it showed up in how his teams played. He introduced the triangle offense, a system built on constant ball movement, collaboration, and trust. The design itself demanded teamwork, making it nearly impossible to succeed without full buy-in from everyone on the court. This tactical decision reinforced the cultural expectation that no one wins alone.

Jackson also brought in unorthodox practices to help shape the team’s internal climate. He led group meditation sessions to improve concentration and emotional balance, something rarely done in professional sports. He assigned readings on leadership, philosophy, and Indigenous wisdom to players, pushing them to think beyond themselves. Team meetings often took place in circles, sometimes guided by a ‘talking stick,’ giving each player (no matter their superstar or bench warming status) a chance to speak without interruption. These small but consistent rituals flattened hierarchy and nurtured mutual respect.

Just as important, Jackson embodied the mindset he asked of others. He believed that the more he tried to control, the less influence he had. So he gave players ownership, trusting them to uphold the culture. This trust allowed a new kind of accountability to emerge. Players followed the rules, not because they were told to, but because they believed in them. On Jackson’s teams, effort-based actions, like chasing loose balls or making the extra pass, were quietly celebrated as much as flashy plays. Those small choices became signals of shared values in action.

Even in a high-stakes, high-ego setting, Jackson showed that trust, awareness, and collective responsibility can become second nature when values are woven into daily routines. His teams won on talent, yes, but that talent thrived because the culture demanded it. [6][7]

Coolblue: ‘Anything for a Smile’ in Practice

Coolblue, a Dutch e-commerce company, provides a strong example of how a business can genuinely live its values. Their motto, ‘Alles voor een glimlach’, or ‘Anything for a smile’, might sound cheerful, but it’s a serious commitment to customer satisfaction.

What sets Coolblue apart isn’t the mission itself, but how clearly it shapes hiring, onboarding, decision-making, and daily interactions. Their four core values (Unconventional, Friends, Go for It, and Flexible) aren’t simply written down; they actively influence how work gets done.

These principles guide hiring, attracting people who already embody the desired behaviors.

During onboarding, new hires don’t just sit through slides with empty buzzwords like ‘teamwork’ in 36-point font. Instead, they actively engage with stories, exercises, and interactive presentations that bring the company’s values to life.

One of their principles is simple but powerful: values should guide every decision, large or small. If a new idea or proposal doesn’t make customers happier or fit with Coolblue’s open, humorous culture, it usually doesn’t go anywhere. [8]

Performance metrics reflect this too. Coolblue tracks EBITDA and Net Promoter Score equally, putting customer happiness at the heart of business success. Frontline employees are trusted to take initiative without needing managerial sign-off, and customer-facing communication is down to earth, matching the tone you’d expect from a company that values directness and friendliness.

To give two examples, delivery heroes (as Coolblue calls them) might find a creative way to get a child involved in installing the washing machine, or a customer service representative might send a card to the customer after resolving an issue.

Internally, acts that reflect the culture get noticed. A creative fix for a customer or a teammate showing the ‘Go for It’ mindset gets shared and celebrated, reinforcing a culture where values aren’t treated like rules. They’re simply how people operate.

Having been part of Coolblue myself, I’m proud of how genuinely the company lives its values. The fact that people can name their values off the top of their head says a lot. And I’m still ‘offended’ if friends buy from the competition. In a competitive industry, that level of cultural clarity and empowerment becomes a serious advantage.

How to Meaningfully Integrate Values

“Culture is who you are, what you are, what you do and how you do it.” – Jocko Willink

Learning from these examples, it’s clear that making values stick requires deliberate action on multiple fronts. Leaders who want values to shape real behavior must treat them like strategy. That means building them into how people are hired, led, rewarded, and held accountable.

Based on these lessons, here are a few steps you can take to truly embed values into your organization.

1. Hire and Onboard for Values

Embedding values start with the people you bring in.

Don’t just look for technical skills. Use interviews to reveal how candidates behave under pressure, especially in situations tied to your values. Ask about moments when they chose collaboration over speed, transparency over ease, or curiosity over certainty. And make sure you drill down to the specifics (e.g. STARR).

Some organizations involve peer interviews specifically to gauge culture fit.

Once hired, new employees should be explicitly taught about the company’s values in orientation with real stories and examples. If you can find a way to embody that experience, the more impactful it becomes. For example, Coolblue organizes a ‘Paint-It-Blue-Day’ for new hires. An important component of the day surrounds instilling their values. An activity in the past was having new employees build things from Coolblue-branded cardboard boxes. It might sound silly, but it does embody the values (and some of the creations were jaw dropping). Essentially, this is about showing employees ‘this is how we live our values here’ from day one.

This might also include shadowing experienced team members who model the conduct desired. Better yet, have leaders share personal experiences where a value required hard choices. That kind of early exposure sets expectations right away.

2. Model Values at the Top

People watch what leaders do far more than what they say. If senior leaders cut corners, expect everyone else to do the same. Modeling values means acting in line with them, especially when it’s inconvenient.

If integrity is a value, leaders should admit mistakes, honor commitments, and avoid ethical shortcuts. If respect matters, it should show up in how leaders treat everyone, not just peers or executives. I vividly remember a town hall where an employee shared her biggest failure—one that cost the company thousands of euros. Instead of berating her, the CEO invited her to share it on stage and publicly showed his support, highlighting how the lessons learned had benefited the company.

When All Blacks coaches and captains grab a broom and sweep the sheds, they’re saying no one is exempt. That’s the kind of message people remember.

Also, consider setting up mentorship programs for employees and be thoughtful in selecting mentors that act congruently with company values. For example, pair a junior developer with a senior developer that lives and breathes your values. That way, you not only develop the competencies of the junior, but also how they enact those competencies and the underlying mindset.

Leaders should also call out values in real time. If a project gets canceled because it clashed with customer privacy, say so. Tie decisions back to values explicitly. Let people see that these ideas guide real business trade-offs.

And don’t keep values separate from strategy. Regularly ask: Are we building toward what we claim to care about? Are our initiatives aligned with who we say we are? In the end, I believe company culture should be a strategic topic that is equally important to business objectives.

3. Integrate Values into Daily Operations

Don’t relegate talk of values to annual meeting slide decks; bake it into everyday workflows and rituals (in a genuine, authentic way).

For example, you can incorporate your principles into team meetings or project processes. Some companies ensure that in project post-mortems or retrospectives, they discuss not only what went well or poorly technically, but how the team upheld the company standards, the underlying behaviors, and where they fell short. This normalizes the idea that how you achieve results is as important as the results themselves.

Similarly, you can tie values into in-house training sessions. If your company provides feedback training, explicitly mention how that is meaningful in terms of the company values (e.g. ‘Courage’ in the case of the Marines). During town halls or other company meetings, make sure to tie successes, failures and initiatives to the underlying values.

Believe it or not, you can create low-key traditions that reinforce values without it feeling forced. But this doesn’t mean implementing cheap gimmicks or ‘kumbaya’ moments; it means finding practical, authentic ways to keep values front-of-mind. For instance, a team that values learning might start their weekly meeting with a brief share of one mistake and lesson learned (promoting openness). A company valuing innovation might have a ritual of ‘15% time’ or regular hackathons to signal that trying new things is encouraged.

The key is to tie the practice clearly to the value, so people connect the dots. As seen with the Marines training or the All Blacks’ locker room cleanup, even routine activities can become symbolic carriers of culture.

4. Align Systems and Incentives

Most companies promote one thing but reward another. They talk about teamwork but only measure individual output, or they praise innovation while punishing risk.

Check your performance evaluations, compensation, and promotion criteria. Do they include demonstration of the core values? If not, add a component that evaluates how results are achieved, not just the results. Many organizations successful in culture have a portion of performance reviews explicitly dedicated to behaviors that reflect values (or violate them). Similarly, when deciding on promotions or high-profile project assignments, explicitly factor in who best exemplifies the values you want to see across the organization. You should strongly consider dismissing ‘high performers’ who are toxic to your principles (the ‘no dickheads’ rule) to send the message that values are not optional.

Another systemic element is feedback loops. Train people to call out value misalignment when they see it, whether it’s peer-to-peer or upward. In my earlier article on systemic feedback, I noted that to change behavior, you need built-in feedback mechanisms, so give them the space and the permission to speak up. Over time, these loops expose blind spots and build shared accountability.

5. Recognize and Reinforce

To cement values, share authentic appreciation for employees and colleagues at every opportunity. This can be through formal practices or informal thank-yous, storytelling, and celebrations. Whether in a team meeting, a Slack shoutout, or a company all-hands, make the connection clear. That recognition not only shows appreciation for the individual but also provides a concrete example to others of values in action.

Appreciation also means consistent consequences when values are breached. If a value is teamwork and someone habitually undercuts colleagues, it needs to be addressed.

Embedding values is a continual process, so keep them alive through refreshers, training sessions, and internal communications.

From Words to Habits

The real test of your company’s values isn’t what’s written on the company website, but what people within your organization do when no one’s watching. Do they act by the values when the stakes are high? When it’s inconvenient? When it costs them something?

To embed values meaningfully, leaders must go beyond rhetoric and intentionally build the values into the company’s cultural habits and systems.

Ask yourself:

Do we hire for it?
Do we train for it?
Is it reinforced through rituals, stories, or shared practices?
Has it shaped a real decision (or stopped one)?
What happens when someone violates it?

If you struggle to find good answers, then that value may be more lip service than reality. But it’s fixable. Start where you are, look for gaps, and act on them, one step at a time.

When values are baked into everyday behavior, people don’t need reminders. They feel it, they contribute to it, and it becomes ‘how we do things here.’ That’s when values stop being abstract. They become a source of trust and alignment, and as the All Blacks, the Marines, Phil Jackson’s teams, and Coolblue have shown, values become your edge, not only in shaping culture, but in driving performance.

Because in the end, the culture of your organization is the sum of thousands of small actions and choices made by people every day. When those actions are guided by values, not just pressure or habit, you don’t just build a better workplace, you build a stronger, more resilient company.