Corporate values: Examples & list that come to life
Why do some companies resonate with you while others leave you cold? Often, the difference lies in their values . Not as posters on the wall, but as attitudes in everyday life. Here you'll find a clear list of company values with examples you can use immediately.
“Values are door openers: They create spaces for perception, encounters, and courageous decisions—not for being right.”
Corporate values examples: the list
Start with a focused selection. Each example comes with an idea of how you can live it in your daily life.
- Trust – How to live it: Make decisions transparent, keep promises.
- Transparency – How to live it: Share goals openly, justify decisions.
- Responsibility – How to live it: Identify mistakes, make learning visible.
- Courage – This is how you live it: Allow experiments, small prototypes instead of endless PowerPoints.
- Empathy – How to live it: Practice listening, change perspectives in meetings.
- Sustainability – How to live it: save resources, measure social impact.
- Willingness to learn – How to live it: Retrospectives, learning budgets, showing “work in progress.”
- Customer focus – How to live it: Involve customers in tests, keep feedback cycles short.
- Quality – How to live it: definition of done, review rituals, clear standards.
- Collaboration – How to live it: common goals, clarify roles, share responsibility.
Examples of wording for “Our corporate values”
- Trust: We create clarity and keep our promises – even when it’s difficult.
- Transparency: We proactively share information and justify our decisions.
- Courage: We try new things and learn quickly from results.
- Empathy: We listen and take the experiences of colleagues and customers seriously.
- Responsibility: We take ownership – for impact, the environment and togetherness.
Living corporate values: everyday examples
Values become effective when they are tangible. Here are simple, proven formats:
- Values check-in (10 min): Everyone briefly shares where a value was relevant during the week.
- Decide with guiding questions: “Which value guides us? What contradicts it? What do we learn?”
- Story collection: Collect stories in which value was visible – share internally.
- Onboarding ritual: New colleagues choose a value and explain what it means to them.
- Recognition: Saying thank you with reference to values (“Thank you for your transparency in Project X”).
- Values Retrospective: One sprint – one value in focus. What helped? What blocked it?
From word to embodiment: the MfW approach
At the Museum of Values, we have been collaborating with The Art of Embodying Change GmbH for years. We combine embodied practices (how we experience the world), aesthetics (what touches us), narrative (your story), and relationality (the quality of our relationships). This way, values are not prescribed—they are embodied.
“It’s less about being right – and more about perceiving, telling stories, and taking each other seriously.”
Communicating corporate values: Examples
- Making values visible: Short portraits of values with real team voices instead of slogans.
- Integrate into processes: Values as a field in templates for goals, roadmaps and retrospectives.
- Leadership as a role model: Managers justify decisions with reference to values.
- Share externally: Cases and learning moments on the website/LinkedIn – authentic rather than polished.
Want to delve deeper? The Management Centre demonstrates how values strategically transform organizations.
Your next step
Values are not a destination, but a path. Start small, but make a start. Which two values do you want to consciously live in the next four weeks – and how will you make them visible?
