Highlight: What are your core values?

If you were asked what your core values are, what would you say? Individuals and companies alike have core values, that shape the way they live on earth. According to Sharon Sampson, founder and CEO of Team Open Book, having your positive core values displayed is not enough. The core values must influence the way you live.

“It’s a matter of – Are you living those out in your culture?”

Team Open Book has four core values they live by.

1. Learn something

2. Help someone

3. Do good work

4. Be grateful

For Sharon and her employees this list is more than just words.

 “We have four words that really are the four things that we want to guide us every day. But they cease to become words on paper and start to become a shared experience when we together live them out.”

When core values are truely lived out as more than just words on the wall they become part of your story. They are then able to withstand independent of failure and success.

“When we have wins, we have losses. When we have victories or failures every day we can hold ourselves to the standard of did I help someone today? Did I help that teammate? Did I help that neighbor down the hallway? Did I seek to learn something even if I failed? I might have messed up, but I’m learning to seek to do my best work even if it didn’t turn out as I wanted and to be grateful for the opportunities I had.”

Ultimately, it’s important for those in leadership roles to stick to and exemplify the core values no matter the outcome.

“In my leadership, I’m accountable to try to reinforce those in the way we treat each other, and the way we operate as a company, and as a team and hopefully people can hold me accountable to that as well and that we can live that together.”


Sharon Sampson is the CEO and Founder of Team Open Book, a creative team based in Minneapolis, MN. Sharon and her team consult, write, and design for mission-driven causes and companies.

Key Scripture: Galatians 5:16

Featured Songs: Deeper – Meredith Andrews; Diamonds – Hawk Nelson; Faithful to the End – Bethel Music

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