Company Core Values: The 6 Non-Negotiables We Actually Enforce

Most companies have a handbook full of values nobody reads and standards nobody enforces. That's not what this is. I'm telling you exactly what it takes to be here. And what happens if you can't meet the bar.

Most businesses run on hope. They hope people show up with integrity. Hope they work hard. Hope they treat customers right. That's not a culture. That's a prayer. You're crossing your fingers instead of taking control of your own future.

Here's what I've learned running Bartlett Roofing past $50 million. Performance breakdowns aren't usually about skill. It's character. Someone's not being honest. Someone's being selfish. Someone's dragging the room down with their attitude. So before we talk about numbers, goals, or growth plans, we establish who you have to be.

These aren't suggestions. They aren't areas of focus. They're requirements. Non-negotiables. You either meet them or you don't belong here. Pretty straightforward.

Honesty: The Whole Thing Is Built on This

No lying. No hiding. No spinning. Period. But here's the thing that drives me absolutely crazy. The type of dishonesty I hate worse than any other is the half truth. You can sniff out a flat out liar pretty quickly. But that bullshit half truth thing is a killer. It leaves you feeling bonkers.

A half truth is still a lie. Someone telling just enough to not technically be wrong while leaving out the part that changes everything. That's manipulation. If you're carefully crafting what you say to avoid telling the whole story, that's dishonesty. It doesn't get a pass just because you didn't technically say something false.

You've got to own your mistakes immediately. The cover up is always worse than the crime. I make mistakes regularly. We did $50 million plus last year. We're training to do $60 million plus this year. Great growth, good things happening. But I make mistakes and I've got to own them. If I don't have the character of honesty, who's going to trust me? Who's going to want to be led by me if I'm just full of it and making stuff up to cover my ass?

Here's what it comes down to. If I can't trust what comes out of your mouth, the full truth, not the convenient version, nothing else matters. I don't care how talented you are. I don't care how great you are at collecting bills, dealing with customers on installs, or closing sales. If you're a liar, I don't want you. And any company owner shouldn't want you either. Your team will be better off even if you fire the highest performer if they're a liar.

Do the Right Thing: Short Term Thinking Kills Long Term Business

There's always a right thing for the customer and for the company. Don't cut corners to save time or money. It screws the customer. And protecting the customer experience is protecting the company. Long term, those two things are identical.

When you serve your customers right, you build a reputation. You build consistency. And consistency is what drives businesses. Surging companies come and go. They're a fad. The consistency of a great customer experience is a huge difference maker.

If you're in a situation where the easy thing and the right thing are different, do the right thing every single time. I've had to do this so many times I've lost count. There've been jobs we misquoted. Crews that did a terrible job on an install. You know what we do? We go back and fix it. There've been roofs we had to completely rip off and replace at Bartlett Roofing. I don't want to do that. But it's the right thing.

Even in a bad situation, doing the right thing is your reputation in the long run. It's your company. It's what defines you. And it defines whether or not you can scale. If you can't have a team of people that trust you to make decisions that are good for customers, your crew, your company, and yourself, then you don't belong in leadership. Your integrity isn't about what you do when the boss is in the room. It's about what you do when nobody's watching.

Care About People: It's the Real Sales Pitch

The most successful people I work with day in and day out, whether they're in sales, production, or internal on our team, they're the ones who genuinely care about everybody around them. That's not soft. That's the thing that actually moves the needle.

Sales guys who care about a customer build trust in a way that no pitch ever can. If your desire to get the sale is bigger than your desire to help your customer, customers will smell that out in a second. They'll write you off as untrustworthy. And they should.

This applies across the board. Production managers who care about their crews get better work out of them. Office staff who care about the customer calling in with a complaint turn a problem into loyalty. It's not complicated. People know when you give a damn and they know when you don't.

Caring isn't something you can fake. You either have it or you don't. And if you don't, you're going to hit a ceiling that no amount of hustle can push through.

How Leaders Build Trust When People Fail

Here's a side note for every leader reading this. You've got to give people permission to fail and be honest with you without getting destroyed for it. If someone screws up the first time, don't hammer them. Give corrective action. Give a new direction. Make sure they understand that hey, this won't fly a second time.

It's okay for mistakes to happen the first time. Sometimes even a second time if it's something complicated. But by the third time, they're choosing to make that mistake. That's where you draw the line.

When someone is honest even when it costs them something, that should build trust. And your reaction matters. You've got an opportunity to show that you value honesty and that you're willing to accept failure as long as people are real about it. As long as they're willing to make a new plan and move forward. That's okay.

Trust is the only currency that actually scales a business. When someone lies, hides stuff, or tells half the story, it poisons everything. You can't manage what you can't see. And if your people are afraid to tell you the truth because you'll blow up on them, that's on you. You built that environment. Fix it.