To prevent values from becoming empty platitudes, integrate them into your company's core operating system. At Applied Intuition, managers are assessed, compensated, and promoted based on their adherence to values. For example, "decisiveness" is a key metric evaluated under the value of "speed."

Eloquent mission statements are meaningless if not embodied by leadership's daily actions. A toxic culture of vengeance and blame, driven by the leader, will undermine any stated values. Employees observe how people are actually treated, and that reality defines the culture.

Despite posters championing collaboration, a company's real priorities are revealed through promotion decisions. When individuals who manipulate metrics or undermine teams are advanced, it proves those behaviors are what the organization actually rewards, rendering official values meaningless.

A kind culture must be actively protected. How a company handles high-performing but unkind employees reveals its true values. Prioritizing cultural integrity by addressing or removing these individuals sends a powerful signal that kindness is non-negotiable, even at a potential short-term cost.

To make culture tangible, it must be a core component of performance management. Plaid evaluates who gets promoted, raises, or more equity based not only on results but also on their contribution to and enhancement of the company culture.

Employees adapt to what a leader rewards. If a CEO is impatient, exacting, and ambitious, the organization will adopt those traits to achieve success. This makes a leader's values and day-to-day behavior the most powerful force in shaping corporate culture.

Culture isn't an abstract value statement. It's the sum of concrete behaviors you enforce, like fining partners for being late to meetings. These specific actions, not words, define your organization's true character and priorities.

A company’s true values aren't in its mission statement, but in its operational systems. Good intentions are meaningless without supporting structures. What an organization truly values is revealed by its compensation systems, promotion decisions, and which behaviors are publicly celebrated and honored.

Stated values on a plaque are meaningless. A company's true culture is revealed by the worst behavior a leader is willing to accept without consequence. Tolerating poor performers or bad actors tells the entire organization that the official standards don't really matter.