When Your Core Values Start Calling You Out

One of the unexpected gifts of hosting a podcast is that sometimes you end up interviewing yourself.

That happened to me recently during our conversation with Steve Blair from New Nexus Group on the PEO Speedwagon Podcast. We were talking about core values. Not the ones hanging on a wall or buried in an employee handbook, but the ones leaders actually live.

Steve made a simple point that stuck with me: your team doesn't experience the values you say you have. They experience the values you demonstrate every day.

That one hit harder than I expected. At peomg, one of our core values is Fast, Not Frantic.

It's a reminder that speed comes from clarity, preparation, and putting the right people in the right seats. Not from constantly grinding harder.

Being honest, I came to realize I hadn't been living that value.

Instead of creating the capacity our business needed, I convinced myself that more grit was the answer. You know the thoughts: I can carry this a little longer or I'll just push through this season.

And somewhere in that conversation, I realized something else. Not only did peomg need someone else supporting our sales process....I was sitting in the wrong chair.

I've spent most of my career in sales. I love it. I love working with clients, understanding their businesses, solving problems and building relationships.

But I've also realized that I'm a far better sales leader than I am a "salesperson."

I thrive coaching people. Developing them. Helping them think through an opportunity. Make chess pieces moves, 12 steps out. Challenging their approach. I love creating strategy and helping someone else become better at what they do.

And I enjoy that just as much as I enjoy working directly with our clients.

I spend a lot of time talking with business owners about getting the right people in the right seats, building organizations around strengths and creating the capacity to grow. The irony wasn't lost on me.

So we finally made a decision we probably should have made months ago.

We're hiring a Sales Executive.

At first, I thought about the decision primarily through the lens of what the business needed. More capacity supporting our client evaluation processes. Someone who could wake up every day owning business development and helping us continue to grow. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized this wasn't just about adding capacity. It was a win-win-win:

1. Our people win because I get to spend more time coaching, developing and leading them.

2. Our clients win because I get to spend more time working with them, helping solve problems and making sure we're continuing to deliver the experience we built peomg to provide.

3. And there was a third win I hadn't really considered. I win too.

For the first time, I get to move into the chair where I think I can create the most value and where I personally thrive. I get to do more of the things I love, not less.

Most leaders don't drift away from their values all at once. It happens one justified decision at a time. One more responsibility. One more season of "I'll handle it."

Until one day you realize you're no longer leading from your values. You're simply surviving outside of them, like I did.

Core values aren't tested when business is easy. They're tested when living them requires you to let go of something you've convinced yourself only you can do.

Sometimes putting the right people in the right seats also requires having enough self-awareness to realize when you're the one sitting in the wrong seat.