Ep. 092 Steve Sargent, C12 Chair and Executive Coach (and all-around great guy)

Show Summary

This conversation goes deeper than “values matter.”

It gets into the uncomfortable truth: most organizations say they have values… but don’t actually use them. And when that happens, culture drifts, decisions get fragmented, and people disconnect from their work.

Steve Sargent brings a grounded, real-world lens to what values actually look like in practice — not as words on a wall, but as filters for hiring, decision-making, and how people experience the business every day.

We explore the gap between personal values and organizational values, the role of awareness, and why most leaders skip the foundational work in favor of what feels more urgent.

Because the reality is simple — if values aren’t lived, something else is driving your decisions.

What This Episode Explores

• Why core values are the foundation of business success — not an accessory

• The danger of values being “just words” (and why most companies fall into this trap)

• What a toxic culture looks like when values aren’t integrated

• Why values must be modeled at the top of leadership or they fail

• Hiring through values: attracting the right people and repelling the wrong ones

• The difference between personal values vs. organizational values — and why they shouldn’t be identical

• How lack of awareness creates misalignment inside leadership teams

• The idea of two P&Ls: profit & loss vs. people & legacy

• Why most leaders skip the “unsexy” foundational work — and pay for it later

• How values directly impact employee experience → customer experience → business performance