Our new report, Hiding in Plain Sight, is written for business leaders—founders, CEOs, board members, and senior executives—who are looking for ways to navigate tension between their personal values and professional expectations.
Their values, such as environmental stewardship, economic inclusion, freedom, community, religious faith, and responsibility to the public, shape day-to-day decisions and influence how their companies grow and develop. Yet acting on these values is often assumed to be rare, risky, or limited to exceptional circumstances.
This report challenges that assumption by showing how values-led decisions are already shaping real companies today.
Drawing on more than 600 examples of companies that have made values-led decisions, the research identifies cases that are not confined to familiar stories of exceptionally altruistic leaders, social enterprises that defy the odds, or narrow “win-win” cases where doing good delivers clear financial advantage. Instead, it reveals a wide range of companies, including many household names, where leaders have made decisions guided by values beyond purely financial considerations.
These practices may not make headlines, but they offer rich and practical insight. The research shows that acting on values is not only possible, it is more common than many expect.
Rather than prescribing a single path, Hiding in Plain Sight surfaces recurring patterns that broaden the field of possibilities for the actions that these leaders can take. It highlights strategies around ownership structure, corporate culture, stakeholder engagement, and more, detailing what tends to work, for whom, and under what circumstances.
The goal is to help mainstream values-led decision-making in business by providing:
By focusing on decisions rather than ideals, and on practical mechanisms rather than one-off stories, Hiding in Plain Sight offers business leaders a clearer view of how values already shape real companies, and how they can shape their own.
Want to explore these ideas further? Register for our webinar on February 12th to learn more and connect with others interested in this important topic.
