Set Your Compass: Why Defining Your Team’s Values is the Leadership Move of 2025

Welcome to 2025. New year, new goals, new quotas. As leaders, this is the time when we’re looking at our teams and asking: How can we make this year better than the last?

Here’s the truth: The success of your team this year won’t just depend on their sales tactics or the latest CRM updates. Those things matter, sure. But if your team isn’t grounded in something bigger — something that keeps them motivated when things get tough — none of it will stick.

That “something”? It’s values.

Why Values Are Your Secret Weapon

Your team’s values are like their internal GPS. They guide decisions, anchor them during challenges, and keep them moving forward when the road gets tough.

Think about the inevitable setbacks in sales: missed quotas, lost deals, dry pipelines. Not to mention the challenges and setbacks in life generally. Without clarity on why they’re doing this, sales leaders and reps are left spinning their wheels, burning out, and eventually walking away.

As a leader, it’s your job to help your team uncover their compass — their personal and professional values — so they stay motivated and aligned with the bigger mission. (I'm saying "they", but this includes you too." Because when your team is clear on their values, it’s not just about closing the next deal. It’s about showing up with purpose every single day.

How Leaders Can Help Their Teams Define Values

Let’s make this practical. Here are three exercises you can introduce to your team to help them clarify their values and start 2025 on the right foot:

1. The "What Really Matters?" Session

Objective: Help your team prioritize their core values.

Sales reps are constantly dealing with external pressures: quotas, deadlines, customer demands. This exercise helps them look inward.

• Share a list of values like integrity, growth, freedom, service, connection, etc.
• Have them choose 15 values that resonate, then narrow it down to 10, then 5, and finally 3.
• Encourage them to reflect on how these values show up in their work and decisions.

Pro Tip: Schedule a team meeting or one-on-one session to discuss their findings. This isn’t just about knowing their values — it’s about creating an open culture where those values are part of the daily conversation.

2. The Role Model Test Objective: Identify values through admiration.

Sometimes, the easiest way to connect with values is by looking at who we look up to.

• Ask your team to list 3-5 people they admire. These could be mentors, colleagues, or even public figures.
• Have them jot down the qualities they respect most about those people.
• Discuss: Are these qualities they see in themselves? How do these reflect their core values?

Why it matters: This helps reps align their behaviors with the qualities they respect most & reinforces a sense of purpose in their work.

3. The Perfect Sales Day Visualization

Objective: Discover values by envisioning success.

Visualization is a powerful tool for clarity.

• Ask your team to imagine their perfect sales day. From the first call to the final close, what does success look like?
• What emotions stand out? What moments feel the most meaningful?
• Discuss as a group: What underlying values are driving those feelings?

This exercise is a great way to connect sales success to deeper, personal motivations, reminding reps that their work is about more than just a means to an end.

Why This Matters for Your Team

As sales leaders, you’re not just managing numbers — you’re managing people. And people thrive when they feel connected to something bigger than themselves.

Helping your team define their values does more than just improve performance. It creates a culture where everyone feel aligned, supported, and engaged. And when challenges arise (as they always do in sales), your team will have the mental foundation to keep going.

This isn’t about fluff. It’s about retention, resilience, and long-term success.

So, as you kick off 2025, make it a priority to help your team set their compass. Their values are the foundation for everything else—performance, growth, and even happiness at work.

If you’re ready to learn more about creating a values-driven, growth-oriented culture in your sales team, let’s chat. Shoot me a DM or email me at [email protected].

Here’s to a successful, purposeful 2025.

With Love, James