Most corporate values are useless. Not because values don't matter, but because organisations have spent thirty years reaching for the same twenty-four words, integrity, collaboration, respect, excellence, and wondering why nobody believes them.
Erika Clegg is the co-founder of Larkenby, creator of the Active Ethos method and author of Junk Values. She joins Mark Blackwell to explain why generic values actively damage the organisations that adopt them, and what it takes to build values that are, in her words, magnetic: ones that attract the right people and repel the wrong ones.
The conversation covers:
Why the values problem started in the mid-nineties and has got steadily worse
The Oxford Character Project finding that over 50% of FTSE 350 companies share the same top value
How the Active Ethos method works, from diagnostic to embedded culture
The difference between an essential purpose and an inspiring vision, and why you need both
Why Cook's "Churchill's Pig" is one of the best corporate values ever created
Mary Parker Follett's invisible leader, and why her century-old ideas are more relevant than ever
Erika's book Junk Values is shortlisted for the Smart Thinking category of the Business Book Awards 2026 and is available from all good bookstores. Her podcast, Slow Values, is available wherever you listen.
🌐 erikaclegg.com
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