Joining the Dots
What are the core values of your organisation?
They should be obvious just by spending time in and around the work being done.
Yet, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat in a company’s reception area, reading the beautifully framed values—only to step inside and find no trace of them in how people behave.
Values aren’t what’s written down. They’re what’s lived. And more importantly, they’re what's felt.
The Connection Between Values and Emotion
We don’t connect to values through words—we connect to them through how they make us feel.
Think about the workplaces you’ve been in.
The ones where values were truly alive had a feeling to them.
You could sense it in the way people spoke to each other, how they made decisions, how they handled challenges.
It wasn’t just that people knew the values—they felt them.
Last year, I worked with a large pharmaceutical company where this case in point.
Their values weren’t posters on the wall; they showed up in everyday moments.
A leader pausing to recognise someone’s contribution. A team making a tough call because it was the right thing to do, not the easiest.
People didn’t have to remember the values—they were just part of how work happened.
This matters because we make decisions based on what we feel. When values are just words, they get ignored. When they mean something—when they resonate—they become a compass for how people show up, how they work, and how they lead.
Making Values Real
So, whether you post them on the wall or not, your values exist.
But the real question is:
• Do people feel connected to them?
• Are they shaping behaviour, or are they just decoration?
If your values don’t live in the everyday emotional experience of your people, they won’t stick. And that’s the real work of culture—turning values from something we say into something we feel.
The next time you think about your company's value - ask yourself what do I feel about them? Time to join the dots.
See you next week.
Have a good one.
Cara 😀
P.S. Want to bridge the gap between your company's stated values and lived experience?
Book a call for more information about my talks and workshops on crafting emotional culture and well-being.