If you don't struggle with your company values, you're not living them

“Tone it down. It will help others understand her enthusiasm is genuine.”

We are trying to help each other better live out our company values at work in the form of a survey we called “Executive Values 360,” and that feedback was given to me by a peer in the context of one of our values: Childlike Joy.

I still reflect on how to react to feedback like that. It reminds me of answers to the age-old “what’s your greatest weakness” interview question: “I work too hard” or “I’m a perfectionist.” Except in this case my baseline is happy: so I’m too joyful?

It was anonymous, so there’s no way to account for any kind of tone of voice. But I imagine a flat monotone, the last syllable hooking downward in judgment. Then I imagine a playful elbow, a winking smile, a glib joke: “Tone it down, Robin!” And then they cheerfully add, “You’re making the rest of us look bad!”

Would that make it better?

Joy has always been a core part of me and very much in my DNA (I got this from my Dad, without a doubt). I’ve always been proud of it — kind of like brave people can be proud of their courage, or brilliant people can be proud of their smarts. I can feel happy or sad or anything else depending on my emotions or circumstances. But I can be authentically joyful even when I’m sad.

Joy is a virtue.

So when I started working at Gainsight, where “childlike joy” is famously stamped in permanent ink both in our values and in so much of what we do day-to-day, it felt like a homecoming. Here are my people, my joyful tribe.

And when that part of me was challenged in such a fundamental way, it almost felt like our values, and perhaps even my value, was built on two parallel sets of rules.

Why do companies fail on values?

That’s the thing about values. When you don’t live up to them, it feels like they were a lie all along. If a company misses a quarterly number, they bear down, shake it off, or realign on strategy. But when a company misses on their values, it means somebody got hurt.

These days, almost every company in America has a set of moral or ethical values. Workers want them, consumers demand them. There’s a genuine sea change away from amoral capitalism toward some new type of fledgling conscientious capitalism, where CEOs pledge profits to charity, where companies care for their workers’ mental health, and mitigating climate change is balanced with maximizing revenue.

At least that’s the dream in some bubbles of industry.

Take Gainsight, for example. Our purpose is to be living proof that you can win in business while being human first. We talk about this all the time, so it’s easy even for us to lose sight of how transgressive this purpose could be. You see, we’ve put a strict condition on winning. And if we win without fulfilling that condition, we don’t actually win.

And as individuals, we’re caught in this transitory period in history between the two poles of morality and we’re struggling with living up to that dream. That’s why I wanted to write this: to open up a conversation about why values are so hard and how we can and should all do better.

I see two main obstacles in values:

1. Values are what’s on the wall of the office

This is the classic criticism of a company that drops the ball on their established values. They have to mean something or they’re not taken seriously in practice.

But that’s way too reductionist for my taste!

I truly believe that people and companies have every intention of living out their values when they lay them out. They do it in good faith and make genuine efforts to live up to their principles. Sometimes they even charge an employee or team with designing ways to uphold the company values. But that doesn’t mean they — we — can’t handcuff ourselves.

I believe there are some more concrete reasons that values can lose meaning at a company. I’ll offer some questions to explore:

• How do your values intersect with day-to-day decisions? Values are like muscles; they need to be exercised. Oftentimes, a company’s values can be too abstract from the day-to-day decisions and tasks of the people working at the company. For example, our value of childlike joy can quickly fall by the wayside for our teammates that don’t deliberately infuse it into their workflow. It’s not enough to periodically do fun things and then put childlike joy back on the shelf until the next fun company event. How are each of your company’s values intended to inform each teammate’s daily work? And if they don’t, how can you make them?

What we do: Every meeting at Gainsight starts with an icebreaker. And sometimes we even meditate together! It helps us prioritize human connection ahead of the rest of the agenda, and keeps childlike joy at the heart of each work day.  

• Are your values measured and benchmarked like your other company objectives? It’s not just tech companies. Most successful companies are tracking everything these days. We keep track of every customer interaction, every task, every event happening inside our product. We’re constantly surveying customers, prospects, teammates, our teammates’ pets (okay, maybe not pets, but we should!). We’re measuring so we can benchmark and optimize every aspect of our business. But a lot of companies don’t have developed analytics or data-based insights when it comes to values. Why not?! How can you measure and improve your company’s expression of values using data?

What we do: Our Values 360 survey and feedback initiative helps us quantify how we’re doing against our values - particularly at the leadership level. It establishes benchmarks we can improve upon and helps us hold ourselves accountable.

• Do you have “stealth” values that come into conflict with your stated values? Lastly, one of the big criticisms you open yourself up to when you try to live by values is that when the chips are down, and you have to choose between values and money, most companies will always choose the money. It’s more likely that when you fail to live up to a value, you simply picked a deeper, more important value you didn’t know you had. Maybe your company does value efficiency, or ambition, or like Gainsight, you value “Staying Thirsty.” If so it should be codified and defined so you can synthesize it with your other values in a constructive way. But if it’s an unsaid “stealth” value, you’ll find yourself making those trade-offs that undercut your team’s faith in them. What does your company truly value? Do you have any stealth values you need to bring to the surface?

What we do: For the longest time, Gainsight only had three values, not five. We knew we were missing something in our culture, so we spent some time and figured out we needed to add “Stay Thirsty” and “Shoshin” (which means beginners mind). If you haven’t revisited your values in a while, try giving them some systematic thought. What are they? And just as critically, what aren’t they?

2. Values are weaponized

“A reduction in force isn’t human first.”

“Not promoting me this cycle isn’t in the spirit of success for all.” 

When you state your values, you’re asking to be confronted. And companies should invite and encourage the dialogue - employees can be your greatest values enforcers. But there’s something else you open yourself up to — something completely different from criticism.

Weaponized values.

Let’s back up for one second. Why do I use the word “values” here? It’s important to be clear that values are different from morals or ethics or traits. At Gainsight we love the word value because it’s naturally a verb. The word comes from the old French “valoir,” a verb that just means “to be worth.” What I’m saying is that your values aren’t what you are. They’re what you treasure. Gainsight isn’t “childlike joy.” We value childlike joy, and that’s an important distinction.

The beauty of good-faith criticism is that both parties treasure the same value — both are aiming for the same target. It helps challenge us and makes us better.

But when values are weaponized, it’s not about getting closer to that goal, it’s about power. It’s about how you can anchor your point or your need to an inflexible value.

Take ‘radical candor’ for example: how often it’s warped into sniping and insults. Or ‘care’ or ‘kindness’ devolving into a kind of toxic positivity where serious problems get swept under the rug.

One solution to neutralize weaponized values is to always, always, always assume good intentions. When a person or company falls short of a value, you have to believe they’re trying in good faith. And when someone offers criticism, you’ve got to believe it’s coming from the right place. A company can fall apart without that built into the bedrock.

Second, which is a two parter. One, take the time to educate and two, do it directly. The equation for good communication is made of a straight line passing through two points - human to human. Assume good intent and make it a priority to share your why. It involves some onus on you, but in turn creates clear accountability for the other person. I’ll share with you an example email I sent to a colleague:

I reflected a bit on the conversation and wanted to communicate with you the impact of some of the phrasing you used.

"You're too direct;" "this is inappropriate;" and "you're too confrontational:" My perspective: while the tone of the email was definitely clear, I also believe it matched the level of issue and lack of engagement over the course of a week+. The email was purely the facts and the expectations, was sent as immediately as humanly possible and only included the critical few stakeholders

How it's interpreted: I firmly believe there was good intent at the core, and in parallel, I also don't believe a man who sent this email would have been told they're too confrontational. It’s the modern-day “hush;” “do your job...but not too loudly;” “play nice or people won't like you."

"I'll be calling the CEO and telling him about this" and "I'll also be informing HR" - both in reference to me being too direct and confrontational: My perspective: I deeply appreciate how it feels to get an email escalating something like this. In this case, I am the voice of process and as the Chief of Staff,  it's my job to make sure our execs are as productive as possible. That said, I am also completely behind as much transparency as possible especially in meaty challenges we face as a team and company.

How it's interpreted: a threat.

Wow, right? That sounds like an incredibly tense and awkward situation. But it didn’t end the way you might think. I’m proud to say this exchange was with someone I then proceeded to have an incredibly strong professional relationship with -- one built on trust and compassionate candor.

Instead of giving in to the fight-or-flight tendency that’s so deep in our brains, we’ve got to reach out to build that mutual understanding.

What does utopia look like?

So how do we paint a picture of utopia when it comes to values in business? I can tell you one thing for sure — it doesn’t look anything like all of us popping a bottle of champagne and celebrating that “we did it! We accomplished values!” Like I said, values are aspirational by nature. You can’t accomplish them, you can only, well, value them.

But there’s a lot you can do to orient yourself and your company toward them. For starters at Gainsight, it looks like our Executive Values 360 program to systematize our commitment to all our values from the top down. With up to 17 requirements identified per value, our senior-most executives must model the criteria using it as a guide for a Values 360 review twice per year and a review by the CEO once per quarter. The success plan identifies daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly activities expected and bonuses are calculated in part by the leader’s modeling of Gainsight’s five core values. This is serious stuff! Values way too often end up being wishy-washy. Our values aren’t “nice to have.” They’re requirements for every senior executive. Things like:

• Execs 100% observe the 24-hour email rule
• Execs do not drop balls and hit their commitments
• Execs always need to observe the following prioritization: Gainsight’s Needs > Your Team’s Needs > Your Needs
• Execs recognize peers and teammates of other teams, not just their own
• Execs understand each others’ goals and support each other
• Execs are on time for meetings
• Execs treat the most junior person in the company better than they treat the CEO
• Execs fiercely advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging by making their teams, meetings and presenters diverse and inclusive
• Execs do not interrupt each other or other teammates
• Execs are present and active listeners
• Execs are radically transparent
• Execs demonstrate vulnerability internally and externally
• Execs know feedback is a gift and don’t get defensive
• Execs have emotional composure

Then for me, it starts with unapologetic authenticity. I’m exactly as joyful as I can be and ought to be. 

What does it look like for you?