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The Difference Between Principles and Values
Today I want to share a distinction between principles and values that changed the way I see business.
Values are the how: discipline, hard work, and loyalty.
Principles are the why: justice, truth, common sense, and the common good.
I can be disciplined, hardworking, and loyal… and still work for a company that deceives its customers. Values are tools; principles determine what we use them for.
I’m convinced we’re born with principles. If you put a bag of candy in front of three children and one grabs it all, the others will get upset. No one explained justice to them, but they feel it. If we promise to take a child to the park and don’t follow through, no one taught them what keeping your word means, but they know a promise was broken.
Now, let’s bring it to business
In my years advising companies, I’ve met businesses with hardworking people, organized processes, and ambitious goals. But when their only goal is to sell more at any cost, I’ve seen those good values end up serving a bad purpose. And I’ve seen it show up in three places:
With customers. Just like the child and the park, customers know when they’re being misled, even if they don’t say so: the delivery date that’s never met, the hidden fee in the fine print, the product that promised more than it delivers, the warranty that turns out not to be much of a warranty. I’ve seen customers who don’t complain: they simply don’t come back, and they tell others. On the other hand, when a business starts from the question “What real problem am I going to solve for my customer?”, selling stops being a fight and becomes a relationship.
With employees. I can demand discipline and commitment from my team, but I’ve learned that real commitment comes when people understand why they do what they do. Telling someone “load those boxes” is not the same as saying “let’s make sure medicine gets to pharmacies on time.” When there’s a clear purpose and fair treatment, people stay, contribute ideas, and take care of the company as if it were their own. When there isn’t, they just put in their hours and leave for the first offer that pays a little more, while managers complain that employees just aren’t loyal anymore.
With the community. No company is an island. We sell in a city, we hire our neighbors, and we use its streets, its water, and above all, its trust. The companies I admire most look around and ask themselves: “What needs exist here that I can help solve with what I know how to do?” Many of the best business opportunities I know of were born that way.
What’s truly passed down
Something I’ve seen proven time and again: when a family business passes to the next generation, what’s truly inherited isn’t the assets — it’s the why.
If the children only inherit a business meant to make money, that’s all they’ll run it for; they’ll lose its spirit of service, gradually lose market share, and at best, just hang on over time. But if they inherit a business that exists to help others, those principles will make it grow and keep multiplying for the benefit of everyone who works there.
This week, I’d like to suggest an exercise. Take the values written down at your company and, next to each one, answer:
Why does it matter?
Who does it benefit?
What problem does it solve for my customers or my community?
Then meet with your team and define, in a single sentence, what real need you exist to meet. If the answer doesn’t convince you, don’t just change the sign on the wall: change your business’s focus.
“Values are the engine, but principles are the steering wheel. And a powerful engine without a steering wheel only gets you to the edge of the cliff faster.”
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