After more than 25 years of helping leaders and entrepreneurs build great companies, I’ve come to believe something simple but profound: The soul of your company is its Core Values and Core Focus.
That’s it.
It’s not your product. It’s not your quarterly numbers. It’s not your latest marketing campaign. It’s your Core Values and your Core Focus. That’s your company’s soul. And if those two things are unclear, your company is soulless. If they are clear, they are everything.
And they must be protected with your life.
From the Stage to the Core
I’ve been quietly teaching this idea in my talks and sessions for years. It’s not in any of the EOS tools. It’s not in the books. It only surfaced during deep conversations and in the heart of my keynote talks. But this year, as I stood on stage at the EOS Conference, sharing the story of building EOS Worldwide from two guys in Michigan to a global force, I realized—it’s time.
Time to bring this idea front and center. Time to bring it into the light. Time to speak directly to you, the entrepreneurial leaders.
Because if your company loses its soul, it won’t matter how fast you’re growing.
Eventually, it all comes crashing down.
Core Values: The Heartbeat of Your Business
Core Values define who you are at the core. They shape your culture. They determine who belongs on your team and who doesn’t. Let me tell you a story.
God, my leadership team fought me tooth and nail. They pushed back hard…because they knew our current values were real. They were not up for debate. I was the Visionary, but I was dead wrong.
That was a critical moment that could have unraveled us. Instead, our values held.
Core Values are not invented in a boardroom. They are discovered with you and your current team members. You find them by identifying the people you’d clone if you could, those culture keepers who show up, live the values, and elevate everyone around them.
You’ve got to protect your values fiercely. That means making hard calls. That means removing very talented people who don’t live them. That means calling out the quiet cancer before it spreads. I
once sat down with a top-performing implementer, one of the best. But I told him: “You’re not living our Core Values. If this doesn’t change, you’re out.”
And he changed. Why? Because he wanted to. He had the heart. He just needed the mirror.
But others? They don’t change. And when they don’t, you’ve got to let them go, even if it hurts and even if it costs you money. Because when you compromise on values, you chip away at your company’s soul.
Related Reading: The Bottom Line on Company Values
Core Focus: The Soul’s Purpose
Core Values are the heartbeat. Core Focus is the soul’s purpose. It’s your reason for existing. It’s what you’re uniquely great at. And it must be protected like sacred ground.
Let me take you back to the early years of EOS. We were getting traction, fast. And suddenly, many ideas came flying at us like a firehose. “Let’s offer more services!” “Let’s buy a sales training firm!” “Let’s broaden our tools!” Over and over again, people said, “Gino, this could be big.”
I became a steady force:
- “No.”
- “Not on focus.”
- “Doesn’t align.”
- “Thanks, but no thanks.”
The waves were crashing, but we stood firm.
Why? Because we knew our Core Focus:
- Cause: Helping people get what they want from their business.
- Niche: Helping entrepreneurial leadership teams gain traction.
And when you protect that soul, everything aligns. People know where you’re headed. The culture gets tighter. Your message gets louder and clearer. You go from noise to signal.
Related Reading: How to Discover Your Core Focus
When the Soul Slips
But when the soul slips—even a little—it begins to rot from the inside. You don’t notice it at first. It’s subtle. A bad hire. A shiny object. A soft “yes” when it should have been a hard “no.” But over time, the culture weakens.
Meetings lose their spark. Passion fades. People stop fighting for the vision.
This is called “death by a thousand paper cuts.”
Don’t let that happen to you.
You’ve got to become a soul protector. A warrior for clarity. A defender of the values. A guardian of the focus. Because when you do, something remarkable happens. People feel it. They are drawn to you…clients, team members, partners. Your company becomes magnetic.
It’s no longer just about making money. It’s about meaning. It’s not just growth; it’s growth with peace, purpose, and power.
So What Do You Do Now?
If you’re wondering whether your company still has its soul, take these steps:
- Revisit your Core Values: Are they real? Are they lived? Do they match your best people? Are you hiring, firing, rewarding, reviewing, and recognizing around them?
- Evaluate your team: Are you tolerating anyone who violates your values? Cut that cord.
- Clarify your Core Focus: Can you say it in one breath? Does your team know it? Do they believe it?
- Say NO more often: If it’s off-focus, it’s a no. Period.
- Lead with soul: Speak your values. Celebrate them. Share your focus in every meeting. Bring them into every decision.
This isn’t some fluffy exercise. It’s life and death for your business. Protect it with your life.
Stay Focused,
Gino
Find Your Implementer and keep the soul of your business front and center with the EOS Model.
