Employees who know and understand their company’s core values are 51 times more likely to be engaged fully in their work than those who don’t.

That’s an impressive stat that leaders can’t afford to ignore. Your company’s culture is often what sets you apart from the competition, so communicating and helping your employees embody your core values is vital to the success of your business—especially when those values appear to contradict each other.

On the surface, my company’s core values seem to jibe well, and they often do. Two of our most cherished values are “Be cool” and “Get sh*t done.” But sometimes, when we are on a tight timeline or with a difficult client, it can be a challenge to also be cool. The key is to find balance when things go off the rails and your core values seem to fall out of whack with reality—and with each other.

Living core values when things get complicated

What do you do in a situation that seems to pit two core values against each other? In our experience, we’ve always been able to find the overlap and successfully ride that cusp.

 …