In Bill’s view, entrepreneurial success shouldn’t be primarily about what you do but about who you are. Just as a great painting or piece of music reflects the inner values of the artist, so, too, a great company reflects the core values of its entrepreneurial leaders.

Like Walton, your stated corporate philosophy must ultimately be a genuine reflection of the values and beliefs you hold in your own gut. The values must be so much a part of you—of your own core spirit—that you instinctively respond to situations in a way consistent with your stated philosophy. You shouldn’t have to think about it. Likewise, when actions are taken by others that go against those values, it should eat at you on a gut level.

Vision Component 1: Core Values and Beliefs

Core values and beliefs are where vision begins. Core values and beliefs are like an ether that permeates an organization—its decisions, its policies, its actions— throughout all phases of its evolution. Some companies refer to this as their “guiding philosophy.”

Core values and beliefs form a system of fundamental motivating principles and tenets—precepts about what is important in both business and life, how business should be conducted, its view of humanity, its role in society, the way the world works, what is to be held inviolate, and so on. You can think of it as analogous to the “philosophy of life” that an individual might have. Core values and beliefs are analogous to a biological organism’s “genetic code”—they are in the background, but always present as a shaping force.

The core values and beliefs come from inside you. You, as a leader of the company, imprint your personal values and beliefs about life and business through your daily actions.

And therein lies the crucial aspect of core values and beliefs: they must be an absolutely authentic extension of the values and beliefs you hold in your own gut. You don’t “set” values. The proper question isn’t, “What values and beliefs should we have?” but rather “What values and beliefs do we actually hold in our gut?”

Ultimately, core values and beliefs get instilled by what you do, by specific, concrete actions, not by what you say.

Your company is an organism; its cells need to divide to multiply, they need to differentiate to become something new. Don’t worry about what you’re going to lose—think about what you’re going to become.

As a leader, you are the embodiment of that company. What that means is this: Your values—your sense of integrity and decency and honesty, the way you comport yourself in the world—are a stand-in for the values of the company. You can be the head of a seven-person organization or a quarter-million- person organization, and the same truth holds: what people think of you is what they’ll think of your company.