Realigning Leadership Values in a Changing Workplace
October 27, 2025 – According to The Conference Board’s The Reimagined Workplace, hybrid work remains stable, recruiting and retention have become easier, and employee well-being indicators continue to improve. In this environment, corporate culture continues to be a priority for visionary leadership. As companies define and reaffirm their corporate values, employees may find their personal values do not always align. What then?
Ivan Venegas, managing partner of IMSA Search Global Partners Chile and Jobline Chile Executive Search CEO, shares insights on what happens when an executive’s personal values, management style, and conduct become out of sync with corporate norms and acceptable workplace behaviors. Mr. Venegas knows a thing or two on the subject. He spent more than 26 years in international managerial positions with one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies and one of Chile’s biggest conglomerates, followed by over two decades recruiting senior executives for global manufacturing, IT, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, and FMCG/retail companies.
“Culture and values matter,” Mr. Venegas said. “They are central to fit between candidates and companies, and foundational to a successful placement. Values are more than what’s written on the website or displayed on the wall. Values are a practice, a verb, an honor code put into action. The trust that’s established between a company and its stakeholders – employees, suppliers, customers, community – is rooted in shared values and mutually agreed upon expectations. When that trust is broken, communications can break down, interrupting critical processes and negatively affecting business outcomes.”
On Realigning Values When Navigating Change
There are times when corporate values and personal beliefs fall out of alignment, according to Mr. Venegas. “This may be catalyzed by a merger or new leadership hire,” he said. “For example, previous management may have valued respect for differing opinions or acceptance of wide-ranging diversity, and long-term executives have spent their careers putting these values into practice. When new ownership or leadership prioritizes different values and behaviors, executives must navigate the new reality. It’s a complex decision—either realign one’s values without compromising integrity or face the prospect of leaving the company, which can be especially difficult after many years of service.”
Innovation Fatigue: Creativity & Clarity for Effective Leadership
In today’s fast-evolving business landscape, innovation is no longer optional—it’s the lifeblood of competitiveness. Yet as organizations race to reinvent themselves, many leaders are discovering that the constant demand for transformation comes at a cost. The expectation to continuously ideate, adapt, and outperform has created a new kind of pressure—one that tests not only creative capacity but also emotional endurance. This growing strain has given rise to a critical challenge now facing executives worldwide: innovation fatigue.
At IMSA Search Chile/Jobline Executive Search, the team takes proactive measures to prevent values misalignment. The firm insists on visiting clients’ business locations, conducting on-site assessments to understand which values are practiced and identifying behaviors that may be unacceptable and under what circumstances. IMSA Search Chile/Jobline Executive Search goes further by contacting former executives, asking specific questions about values practices at the company. They also do a values assessment of all potential candidates, helping them to prioritize the importance of values, management styles, and behaviors in the workplace.
On the Role of Values in Attracting Leadership to a Company
IMSA Search Chile/Jobline Executive Search moved a commercial director from a company that is one of the largest in the world in its market to a company one-quarter the size. The values were what motivated this senior executive to change companies.. He prioritized a positive work environment, respect for differing opinions, acceptance of diversity of all kinds, and an emphasis on high-performance teams and team-based bonus-sharing. The new company also demonstrated strong engagement in the communities where it operates, a factor that was very important to this executive.
On Suggestions for Candidates
“In today’s job market candidates are already thinking about values as part of what constitutes fit,” Mr. Venegas said. “They ask about corporate culture, workplace behavioral norms, concern for employee well-being, and social/community responsibility. We ask them about their own priorities and what would constitute non-valoric practices that a company should not accept under any circumstances.”
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“We urge candidates to investigate all the sources they have about the culture and values of a company, including website, press, social media, and online rating sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, and Monster,” Mr. Venegas continued. “We provide candidates with opportunities to improve relational skills to enhance job performance. These include how to build trust, how to influence social environments, how to manage and resolve conflict, all of which are part of good leadership and putting values into practice. And candidates beware – social media profiles and activity will be thoroughly scrutinized for anything that suggests they would be counter to the values and culture of potential employers.”
IMSA Search Global Partners is an international executive search network with 25-plus member countries and over 50 offices across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Members of the IMSA International Executive Search network are all boutique search firms.
Related: Beyond Traditional Executive Search: Human Insight, AI Power
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
