Everyone says they have values in business.
Integrity, honesty, transparency.
You’ve heard all the classics.
But the thing is, how many times are these values chosen to sound good to other people rather than being actual values that the company lives by?
Because what I’ve noticed is that brands are more than happy to brag about their values and ensuring customers align with them.
But when it comes to putting it into practice and actually saying no to money that compromises their values, suddenly those same values are not that important anymore.
So today we’re going to talk about values bullshit and why most people don’t actually stick to what they claim to stand for.
And this episode is a difficult one because I am actually one of those bullshitters who compromised on my own values recently, and I need to explain the lessons that I’ve learned from that very big mistake.
Hello, and welcome to Sniffing Out the Bullshit, a podcast for ambitious entrepreneurs who want help wading their way through the bullshit jungle of entrepreneurship and then the tools, skills, and mindsets that are actually required for success.
I’m your host, Sabrina Chevannes, the no-bullshit entrepreneur.
So I’ve been running my own business now for over 15 years.
And so I’ve seen the rise and fall of different trends, let’s say, in business.
And the values thing for me has always been there, but not really as prominently as it is now.
Because at the end of the day, we all have our own values as individuals.
And so often our businesses naturally reflect the values of the leaders.
But back in the day I feel like they were done more as an internal thing.
Like some of the classic business books out there such as Built to Last and Good to Great, both by Jim Collins.
They emphasise the importance of core values, purpose, and building organisations around them.
And then of course Simon Sinek, Start With Why and his Golden Circle concept that led to probably one of the most watched TEDx talks in the world.
So these ideas became hugely influential in business culture.
But as I said, values were mostly internal.
It was more about how companies operated, not how they actually marketed themselves.
But then the pandemic hit and the world just changed, as it seems to be a very common theme for this podcast and all the content I do.
Because I genuinely think that entrepreneurship just drastically changed everything in 2020.
There was this sudden massive shift in expectations.
Consumers didn’t care just about the products anymore.
They cared about what brands stood for, how they behaved, and whether those brands actually took a stance on social issues and obviously where they took that stance.
And the data all backs us up because around 64% of consumers say that they choose or avoid brands based on their beliefs about societal issues.
And one in two actually assume the worst if a brand stays silent.
So it’s kind of nuts what brands have to do now to be able to stay relevant for consumers.
And on top of that, 61% of Gen Z and millennials say they want brands to actively help address social issues.
So not just talk about it, but actually do something about it.
And then over 70% say brands building positive contributions actually increases trust.
So values didn’t suddenly become important.
They became visible, expected, and commercially powerful.
But because of this commercial influence, brands started to perform when choosing and communicating their values.
And what they said and what they did didn’t always add up.



