Free Zone Frontier · Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach And Steve Krein of StartUp Health

How Valuable Are Your Core Values?

·36 min·2 clips

Dan says the one core value he would keep is unique ability and unique ability teamwork.

Steven Krein opens by saying he has been thinking hard about core values in his organization and his family. Dan Sullivan says he has been thinking about values from the start of the program, then ties that idea to a new quarterly book titled Everyone and Everything Grows. They talk through how values show up in hiring, firing, customers, product, and clear decision-making, and Steven says experience has made him much faster at spotting when someone is not the right fit. The conversation ends on the idea that society has seen a fragmentation of agreed-upon common values, which makes clear organizational principles even more important. Steven and Dan begin with a familiar check-in and quickly move into the practical use of core values at StartUp Health and Strategic Coach. Steven says the team recently held an annual retreat and used it to refresh everyone's understanding of the organization's values. He explains that those values affect decisions every day, including hiring, firing, customers, and product choices. Dan answers by saying he has thought about values since the start of Coach, and he connects that idea to his quarterly book. He notes that the world feels especially fragmented right now, which makes named values more useful than vague intention. Steven agrees and says the values have not changed, but they need to be owned more consciously. He describes core values as a transparent tool rather than an abstract ideal. Dan asks what stands out most today compared with earlier years. Steven says age and experience have sharpened his pattern recognition. He can now spot the wrong fit quickly. He says he no longer tries to fix the last 20 percent of a partial fit. Instead, he treats fit as something that is either there or not. He prefers to state values in the first meeting rather than reveal them later. That way, entrepreneurs, funders, and partners know the philosophy up front. If it does not work, both sides can see it early. Steven says he used to spend too much energy trying to change people. Dan agrees and points to a broader fragmentation of agreed-upon values in society. They connect that shift to the assumptions that shaped operating principles decades ago. The conversation also nods toward the coming year and the way technology and AI may change teamwork. Steven closes by emphasizing shared values, unique ability, and unique ability teamwork as the right foundation going forward.

As heard by us

A thoughtful look at values, fit, and the decisions they shape.

The episode treats core values as a working tool, not a slogan. Steven Krein and Dan Sullivan keep coming back to how those values shape hiring, firing, customer choices, product calls, and the smaller decisions that keep an organization lined up.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a sharper way to spot fit before the values talk gets vague.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Free Zone Frontier