Business Growth
How to Write Core Values for Your Business (Process and Examples)
How to write core values for your business: what company core values are, a simple step-by-step process, how to turn single words into behaviors, example core values, how to put them to work in hiring and decisions, mistakes to avoid, and a Claude workflow for drafting yours.
Founder, AI Tools and Training Club · October 20, 2026 · 8 min read
The short version
- Core values are the short list of principles that describe how your business actually behaves, especially when a decision is hard or costs you something.
- Write them by looking at what you already do at your best, narrowing to a short list, turning each word into a phrase, and defining the behavior it means in practice.
- A value only counts if you use it. Tie each one to hiring, feedback, and real decisions, or it is just a poster on the wall.
How do you write core values for a business?
You write core values by describing how your business already behaves at its best, not by picking nice-sounding words. Look at your best decisions, hires, and customer moments, pull out the patterns, and narrow them to a short list. Then turn each one into a specific phrase and write one or two sentences on what it looks like in daily work. Finally, use them: hire with them, give feedback with them, and check hard decisions against them.
My strong opinion: a core value that never costs you anything is not a value, it is decoration. The useful ones are the ones you would keep even when they make a deal harder or a week slower. If you would drop it the first time it gets inconvenient, leave it off the list.
What core values are (and how they fit with mission and vision)
Core values describe how you work. They sit alongside two other short pieces of company writing that answer different questions.
| Question it answers | Who uses it most | |
|---|---|---|
| Mission statement | Why does the business exist and who does it serve? | Team, customers, and partners |
| Vision statement | Where is the business going? | Team and leadership |
| Core values | How do we behave and make decisions along the way? | Everyone, every day |
Core values compared with mission and vision
If you have not written the other two yet, How to write a mission statement and How to write a vision statement cover them. Values are often the easiest to start with, because they are about behavior you can already see.
A simple process for writing core values
- List your best moments. Write down a handful of times the business did something you were proud of: a hard call you got right, a customer you went out of your way for, a hire that worked out well.
- Find the pattern. For each moment, ask what principle drove it. Write the principle in plain words, not slogans.
- Ask your team. If you have employees or contractors, ask them what the business actually values today and what they wish it valued. Their answers show the gap between what you say and what you do.
- Group and cut. Merge similar ideas and cut anything generic. Most guidance lands on a short list, often five or fewer, because people cannot remember or act on a long one.
- Turn words into phrases. Replace single words like "integrity" with a phrase that says what you do, such as "Tell customers the bad news first."
- Define the behavior. Under each value, write one or two sentences on what it looks like in practice, and one example of what it does not look like.
Turning vague words into usable values
The most common problem with core values is that they could belong to any company. The fix is to rewrite each one as a behavior someone could actually notice.
| Generic word | Specific phrase | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Integrity | Tell customers the bad news first | If a deadline will slip, the customer hears it from us before they have to ask |
| Quality | Check it like the customer will | Every deliverable gets reviewed from the customer's side before it ships |
| Teamwork | Ask early, help fast | People flag problems as soon as they see them and answer teammates the same day |
| Customer focus | Solve the real problem | We ask what the customer is trying to get done before we quote the request |
| Growth | Leave it better than you found it | Every project ends with one note on what to do better next time |
Rewriting generic values into specific ones
These are illustrative examples, not a set to copy. The point is the format: a short phrase plus a behavior anyone on your team could recognize.
How to put your core values to work
- Hiring. Turn each value into an interview question about a past situation. How to write job descriptions with AI covers how to reflect them in the role itself.
- Onboarding. Explain each value with a real story from the business, so new people see how it plays out.
- Feedback. Use the values as the language for praise and correction. "That was a great example of telling the customer the bad news first" is more useful than "good job."
- Decisions. When a hard call comes up, ask which value it tests and what that value says to do.
- Processes. Build them into how work gets done. How to write standard operating procedures with AI covers documenting the steps.
Core values mistakes to avoid
- Picking words that every business claims, such as excellence, passion, or integrity, with no definition.
- Writing a long list that nobody can remember.
- Writing values you wish you had instead of values you act on, without saying which is which.
- Treating them as marketing copy rather than a tool for decisions.
- Never using them in hiring, feedback, or reviews, so they quietly stop meaning anything.
How to draft your core values with Claude
Claude is useful here because it is good at spotting patterns in stories and pushing back on generic words. Use the Claude desktop app and give it real examples from your business.
- Paste in a few stories of moments you were proud of, and a few you regret, and ask Claude to name the principle behind each one.
- Paste in any team feedback and ask it to group the themes and point out where what people say differs from what they see.
- Ask it to draft a short list of values as phrases, each with a one-line behavior and one example of what it is not.
- Ask it to run the tradeoff test on each value and flag any that sound good but would never cost you anything.
- Rewrite the final list in your own words, then ask Claude to turn each value into one interview question.
Frequently asked questions
What are core values in a business?
Core values are a short list of principles that describe how a business behaves and makes decisions, especially when the right choice is hard or costs something.
How many core values should a business have?
Keep the list short enough that everyone can remember it. Most guidance suggests five or fewer, because a long list is hard to recall and even harder to act on.
What is the difference between core values and a mission statement?
A mission statement explains why the business exists and who it serves. Core values explain how the business behaves while it does that work.
Should core values be single words or phrases?
Phrases usually work better. A single word like integrity means something different to everyone, while a phrase like tell customers the bad news first describes a behavior people can recognize.
Can AI write my core values?
It can help you find patterns in your real stories, cut generic words, and test each value. The values themselves should come from how your business actually behaves, and you should only keep the ones you are willing to act on.