The Power of Honest Values in Company Culture: Why Truth Beats Perfection

A few years ago, we sat around a table, our small leadership team ready to define our company’s values. We had coffee, a whiteboard, big dreams… and absolutely no idea where to start.

Someone said “Innovation.” Another added “Integrity.” I wrote “Excellence” in a neat circle in the middle of the board. We all nodded. It looked good. Polished.

But after a long pause, someone quietly asked:

“Do we actually live these things? Or do we just wish we did?”

And that was it. That moment changed everything.

It made us stop pretending. It made us start telling the truth.

What Are Company Values Really For?

Let’s get honest: company values often become decoration, pretty phrases you put on a website or in a slide deck. Aspirational, vague, and sometimes completely disconnected from the reality of how people experience work every day.

But when used honestly, values are not decorative. They are directional. They guide behavior. They shape culture. They protect your mission. They attract (and repel) the right people.

Think of your values like a compass, useless if it doesn’t point to your actual true north.

What Happens When Values Are Just Buzzwords?

I once worked with a client who proudly claimed “collaboration” as a core value. It was all over their office walls, onboarding materials, even in the CEO’s email signature.

But here’s what I saw on the inside:

• Department heads hoarding information.

• Meetings full of passive-aggressive tension.

• A reward system that celebrated individual “heroes” over team wins.

It wasn’t that they were bad people, it was that they weren’t being honest. Their value wasn't "collaboration". It was “autonomy” or maybe “ownership”, but definitely not collaboration.

That misalignment led to confusion, resentment, and turnover.

When your values are dishonest, you’re not just branding yourself inaccurately. You’re making promises you can’t keep. And when people realize that, trust breaks down fast.

Our Own Turning Point: From Perfection to Progress

Let me go back to our own story.

Once we moved past the generic terms, we started asking better questions:

• What do we actually praise each other for?

• What behaviors get rewarded here?

• What annoys us? What do we celebrate?

We noticed something subtle but powerful: Our team wasn’t obsessed with being the best. They were obsessed with getting better.

People asked questions constantly. They admitted when they didn’t know something. They stayed late to help others troubleshoot, not to polish presentations.

So we dropped “excellence.” And we added “curiosity” and “growth.”

We also admitted where we struggled. For example:

• We wanted to value “work-life balance” but weren’t living it.

• We wished we were more inclusive, but we didn’t have diverse voices at the table yet.

Instead of pretending, we got vulnerable: We made “courageous transparency” one of our values. It meant we could name what wasn’t working, and commit to improving it—with compassion.

Four Reasons Why Honest Values Work Better (Always)

1. Honesty Builds Trust (and Trust Builds Everything Else)

   People don’t need a perfect company. They need a company they can believe in. When your stated values match your behaviors, people relax. They stop second-guessing. They bring more of themselves to the table.

   When they don’t match? Cynicism creeps in. Engagement drops. Good people leave.

2. Alignment Drives Real Culture

   Culture isn’t what’s on your walls. Culture is what happens in meetings, in conflict, and in decision-making. If your values are real, they show up without being named. They shape how your team hires, fires, prioritizes, and celebrates.

3. Honest Values Repel the Wrong People (Which is a Good Thing)

   If you're honest about who you are, you’ll attract people who fit, and repel those who don’t. That’s not exclusion. That’s clarity.

   In our company, we made “self-leadership” a value. It meant we expected people to manage their own motivation and time. Some candidates walked away. But those who stayed? Thrived.

4. Truth Enables Growth

   When you know where you really are, you can grow with direction. Fake values build a fake company. Honest values let you evolve from a strong, stable foundation.

   
   

How to Define Values Honestly (and Bravely)

If you’re in the middle of defining or redefining your company’s values, here are a few things I’ve learned, through both painful lessons and incredible breakthroughs:

1. Reflect, don’t perform Ask: What do we reward? What do we fire for? These questions cut through the fluff fast.

2. Involve your team Your culture isn’t just what you say, it’s what they live. Use surveys, workshops, and open conversations.

3. Own your imperfections It’s okay to name values you’re still growing into, as long as you’re honest about it. “We value empathy, and we’re working to get better at it” is far more powerful than pretending you already nailed it.

4. Use stories, not slogans Instead of listing values like a brand manual, share real examples. Show what they look like in action. Make them live.

5. Revisit often Your culture will evolve. Revisit your values every year. Not to change them casually, but to make sure they still match your reality.

The truth is: your company already has values. Whether you've named them or not. Whether you like them or not. They live in the way people behave, the things you reward, the moments you tolerate, and the stories your team tells when you’re not in the room.

So if you’re going to write them down, do it honestly. Not to impress. But to express what’s real.

Because the companies people stay in, fight for, and grow with, are the ones where the values don’t just sound good.

 They feel true.