Simply Having Corporate Values Is Not Team Development
We’ve seen it more times than we can count: an organization has a glossy poster or a beautifully designed slide deck listing their core values - words like integrity, collaboration, excellence, innovation... you know the list.
But here’s the kicker: putting them into practice, that's where success lies. Just having those values doesn’t mean your team is actually living them.
Values are not magic. They don’t self-activate the moment you print them out and hang them in the break room. And they definitely don’t build strong, collaborative, high-functioning teams on their own. That part? That takes intention. It takes practice. And most of all- it takes behavior change.
Values Are the Map, Not the Journey
Values are like a compass or a map. They point you in the right direction. But unless your team actually starts walking—together—you’re not going anywhere. And walking together takes something more than just knowing where you want to go.
It takes effort. Conversation. Feedback. Learning. Re-learning. Holding each other accountable. Building trust. Repairing trust. Laughing. Getting uncomfortable. Coming back the next day and doing it again.
That’s the real journey. That’s team development.
Culture Is Behavior, Not Buzzwords
We’ve worked with organizations where the stated values sound fantastic; but if you ask team members what it’s actually like to work there, you hear something very different. Not because leadership is dishonest, but because culture isn’t created by what’s said. It’s created by what’s done - every day, by everyone.
So if “collaboration” is a core value, but meetings are dominated by one or two voices and ideas are routinely shot down, you’ve got a mismatch.
If “respect” is a core value, but feedback is delivered through sarcasm or silence, you've got a disconnect.
That’s why real team development starts with honest conversations about what those values look like in action and experiences to get people practicing those behaviors so they move towards habits.
Team Development Is a Verb
If we could tattoo this somewhere, we would: Team development is a verb.
It’s not a training you check off. It’s not a lunch-and-learn. It’s not a motivational quote in a Slack channel.
It’s people showing up, being willing to learn (and unlearn), and doing the work together.
It’s experiential. It’s human. And yes, it’s messy sometimes - but that’s why you hire an expert.
You want your values to matter? Help your team explore them, question them, apply them, and hold each other to them. Provide space to practice listening better, handling conflict with maturity, taking real accountability, and celebrating wins together.
The Bottom Line
Values are a great start. And, they’re only the beginning of team development.
So the next time someone says, “We already have our values defined,” you can smile and say, “Great. Now let’s build the team that can live them out.”
Looking to move your team from talking about values to living them? Reach out. We’ll show you how experiential team development can turn intention into transformation.