Pretty much every organisation has values. They’re on the website, in the induction pack, maybe even painted on the office wall. But here’s the uncomfortable question: do your people actually live them?
If you’ve ever sat in a meeting where “collaboration” is a stated value but everyone’s protecting their turf, or worked somewhere that claims “transparency” while decisions happen behind closed doors, you’ve experienced the gap between stated values and lived culture. It’s one of the most common problems we see when working with organisations on culture change.
The good news? Closing that gap is absolutely possible. It just takes more than a poster.
Why the gap exists in the first place
Most organisations don’t set out to be hypocritical. The values on the wall were probably chosen with good intentions. So why do they so often fail to translate into everyday behaviour?
A few reasons tend to come up again and again:
Values are too vague. “Integrity” sounds great, but what does it actually look like on a Tuesday afternoon when you’re under pressure to hit a deadline? Without specific behaviours attached, values become open to interpretation: “integrity” can mean different behaviours to different people. And your people can interpret them in whatever way suits them.
Leaders aren’t modelling them. If the leadership team talks about “respect” but senior managers regularly interrupt people in meetings or dismiss concerns, everyone notices. Culture flows from the top. When leaders don’t walk the talk, values become meaningless words (and do more damage than good).
Systems reinforce the old culture. You can say you value “innovation” all you like, but if people get punished for taking risks that don’t pay off, they’ll play it safe. Performance management, reward systems, and promotion decisions often lag behind values statements, sending mixed messages about what’s actually valued.
There’s no accountability. Values without consequences are just suggestions. If someone consistently behaves in ways that contradict your values and nothing happens, you’ve effectively communicated that the values don’t really matter.
What “values in action” actually looks like
The organisations that successfully close the gap treat values not as abstract ideals but as behavioural commitments. They get specific about what each value looks like in practice and embed it in every element of how they do business.
Take “collaboration” as an example. Instead of leaving it open to interpretation, you might define it as:
- We actively seek input from other teams before making decisions that affect them.
- We share information openly rather than hoarding it.
- We give credit to others and celebrate wins (either for individuals or for the whole team).
- We assume positive intent and get curious, when there’s a misunderstanding.
Now you’ve got something you can actually observe, coach, and hold people accountable to. It’s no longer a vague aspiration; it’s a clear expectation.
Five steps to make your values real
If you’re looking at your own organisation and recognising the gap, here’s how to start closing it:
1. Get honest about your current culture
Before you can change anything, you need to understand where you’re really starting from. Not the culture you wish you had or the one described in the annual report, but the actual lived experience of your people.
This means getting really curious and asking uncomfortable questions. What behaviours are really rewarded here? What do people complain about in the corridor? What stories get told about “how things work around here”? Using diagnostic tools and structured conversations can help you get beneath the surface.
2. Translate values into observable behaviours
For each of your values, define three to five specific behaviours that demonstrate the value in action on a day-to-day basis. Get input from people across the organisation, not just the leadership team. The more concrete and observable the behaviours, the better.
Ask yourselves: if someone were fully living this value, what would we actually see them doing? What would they stop doing?
3. Leaders go first
This isn’t negotiable. If you want the organisation to change, leaders need to change first. That means being willing to examine your own behaviour, invite feedback, and visibly adjust how you show up.
It also means calling out misalignment when you see it, including in yourself. “I realise I just made that decision without consulting the team, which doesn’t match our value of collaboration. I want to fix that.” This kind of vulnerability and accountability from leaders does more to shift culture than any number of workshops.
Leadership development and culture work go hand in hand for this reason. You can’t transform the culture if the leadership behaviours stay the same.
4. Embed values into your systems
Look at every touchpoint where your organisation sends signals about what’s valued: hiring, onboarding, performance reviews, promotions, recognition, even how meetings are run. Do these systems reinforce your stated values or undermine them?
If you value “learning” but only promote people who never make mistakes, you’ve got a problem. If you value “wellbeing” but reward people who work weekends and never take leave, your systems are sending a different message than your values statement.
5. Build in accountability
Values need teeth. That means recognising and celebrating people who live the values, and addressing it when people don’t.
This doesn’t have to be punitive. Often it starts with a conversation: “At our team meeting this morning, I noticed X behaviour, and it doesn’t seem to match our value of Y. The impact was X. Help me understand what happened.” But if the behaviour continues, there need to be consequences. Otherwise, you’re signalling that values are optional.
The organisations that get this right make values part of regular performance conversations, not just an annual tick-box exercise.
Culture isn’t changed by announcements. It’s changed by a thousand small moments where people choose to do things differently.
It’s a journey, not a project
Closing the gap between stated values and lived culture doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not a six-week initiative or a one-off workshop. It’s an ongoing commitment to noticing the gaps and working to close them, day after day.
But here’s what we’ve seen: when organisations do this work well, the results for the whole business are significant. People become more engaged because they’re not dealing with the cognitive dissonance of working somewhere that says one thing and does another. Trust increases. Teams work together more effectively. And the organisation becomes more attractive to people who share those values, working together to achieve awesome outcomes for your customers and your company.
It’s worth the effort. Because values that are actually lived become a genuine competitive advantage. Values that are just on the wall? They’re just wallpaper.
If you’re ready to move your values from the wall to the floor, we’d love to help. Our team works with organisations across Newcastle, Sydney and beyond to build cultures where what you say and what you do are the same thing.
