Leadership

The Cost of (Not) Living Your Values

There are always choices to be made, and every value has a price tag. Sometimes, it’s comfort. Sometimes, it’s money. Sometimes, it’s your reputation. But what is the true cost when you compromise your values for short-term gains?

Eric Rieger

11 Apr 2025 — 3 min read

Photo by Nik / Unsplash

When Values Are Tested

A few years ago, our company was working with a client who repeatedly crossed the line, treating our staff with disrespect, condescension, and verbal aggression. We addressed it directly. We didn’t stay silent. We brought it to the CEO’s attention, hoping for course correction.

His response?

“I use tough love everywhere. I’m not changing.”

That was the moment of truth.

This client represented our fifth-largest revenue stream. Letting them go would hurt the numbers and the team members who had to scramble to reallocate their time, the pipeline that wasn’t quite ready to replace the loss, and, honestly, my sense of safety as a business owner.

But we made the call. We ended the relationship.

Because no contract is worth more than our culture, no amount of revenue is worth compromising our people’s well-being.

That’s what it means to live your values.

But First… What Are Your Values?

It sounds simple. “Live your values.” Great. But what if you’re not entirely sure what they are?

That was me for a long time. I had a general sense of what I stood for—hard work, honesty, and being a good person. But I hadn’t sat down and defined my values, let alone structured a company around them.

What I did know is that it would never be alright for me to “win” a situation at the expense of someone else “losing”.

For many of us, especially in business, the journey starts not with clarity but with conflict. You feel tension. You notice what feels off. You hit a moment where your gut is screaming, “This isn’t okay,” even if your spreadsheet says, “Hold on tight.”

That’s where the work begins.

In business, your values are the things you hire and fire for.
In life, they’re the internal compass that guides your choices, especially when nobody’s watching.

If you haven’t defined them, everything feels situational. Reactive. Foggy. But once they’re clear? Everything sharpens. You know which hills you’ll die on. You know which shortcuts aren’t worth it. You know who belongs in your orbit and who doesn’t.

What Happens When We Don't

You don’t have to look far to see what happens when people abandon their values.

Turn on the news.

You’ll see politicians condemning a policy for one year and championing it the next, all depending on who’s voting. Leaders who once took a stand suddenly fold to stay in power, to stay liked, to stay “safe” instead of doing what is in the best interests of the people who voted them in.

They’re not living their values. They’re living their fears.

And the cost? Trust. Integrity. Hope. In their institutions and themselves.

The same thing happens in our own lives when we compromise too often. We start to lose faith in ourselves. We rationalize. We drift. We wake up one day wondering how we got so far off course. It’s akin to getting into a taxi (or Uber) and saying drive with no other directions given. You will wind up at a destination, but it won’t be the one you intended.

A Better Way Forward

Living your values doesn’t mean you never make mistakes. It doesn’t mean you always get it right.

It means that when you’re faced with a choice, you pause long enough to ask:
“Does this align with who I am at my core?”

Sometimes, living your values will demand a price. Money, relationships, possessions…
Other times, not living them will bankrupt your soul.

That decision to walk away from a toxic client didn’t just reinforce our culture. It sent a message to our team that still echoes years later: We mean what we say. We walk the walk. And you matter.