The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast – "Turning Values Into Action"

Guest: Robert Glazer, bestselling author and founder of Acceleration Partners
Host: John Jantsch
Date: October 15, 2025

Episode Overview

In this insightful episode, John Jantsch welcomes back Robert Glazer to discuss his latest book, The Compass Within: A Little Story About the Values That Guide Us. The conversation centers on the importance of personal and organizational values, how to define them in an actionable way, and what most people get wrong about living and leading with values. Glazer shares frameworks, personal anecdotes, and practical exercises pulled from both his research and life as a founder, leader, and coach.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. What Most Books Get Wrong About Values

• Clarifying vs. Platitude:
  • Many leadership and business books address values but don’t help readers clarify or make them actionable.
  • "There's a lot of talk about values, but I don't think we've defined them. I don't think we've really shown people how to sort it for themselves... so I can go out in the world and make better decisions." – Robert Glazer [02:01]
• Framework for Clarity:
  • Glazer introduces a framework, built over years of leadership training and real-world application, that goes beyond one-word platitudes (like "integrity" or "family").
  • The book leverages a parable format to help readers see themselves and identify their true core values.

2. The Parable Approach

• Glazer chose storytelling as a method so readers could see real-life dynamics, making lessons more memorable and practical.
• "I've had multiple people who've read this book... be like, I thought you were writing about me and this circumstance." [03:57]

3. Making Values Tangible and Measurable

• From Platitudes to Practicable:
  • Values should be actionable and measurable.
  • Example: “Family” as a value is often too vague. Instead, ask how you show up for your family, employees, and friends—look for behavioral consistency.
  • "If one of your values is a little more like, skip the emotion. Right. That's probably how you show up for your family." [05:26]
• Test for Values:
  • A key test: Can you objectively rate yourself or others on the value?
  • "One of the tests of the value is, can I objectively rate myself on it?... That's how you know if you're doing it or not." [07:30]

4. The “Big Three” Decisions in Life

• Most important life decisions: Partner, community, job/vocation.
• These decisions must align with your core values, or friction and dissatisfaction result.
• "If you live in a community that does the opposite of, you know, what you want to do ... those big three will not work, and you will have failure if they're not aligned to your values." [08:05]

5. Are Values Fixed or Flexible?

• Mostly Baked-In:
  • Core values are formed during transformative childhood and teenage years.
  • Major life events can shift priorities, but values rarely change without significant events.
• Not Aspirational:
  • Values are generally not what you aspire to be, but who you consistently have been.
• Process for Identifying Values:
  • Glazer recommends examining consistent behaviors during times of happiness, flow, frustration, or conflict.

6. Self-Awareness and Leadership

• Bringing Unconscious Drivers to Light:
  • Leaders often act based on unconscious values shaped by past experiences (e.g., trust issues stemming from childhood).
  • Self-awareness enables leaders to communicate transparently about what drives them, preventing miscommunication and workplace friction.
  • "You are a few minutes late... suddenly you're not being talked to, you're not getting any assignments. This is someone who... it's driving their behavior and it's not doing it in a good way right now." [12:57]
• Owning Strengths & Weaknesses:
  • Acknowledging your inherent values openly fosters trust and alignment in teams.
  • "This is who I am, that's okay. It's pros and cons, but I'm gonna own it." [14:55]

7. Universal vs. Contextual Values

• There are no truly "universal" default values; what's critical in one context may not fit in another.
• Example: Fast-moving ad agencies need decisiveness, while nuclear facilities require caution and thoroughness.
• "Those aren't bad values, but... take it slowly and carefully is better for someone wanting to work in a nuclear facility than in a digital marketing agency." [16:27]

8. Avoiding “Compass Drift”

• More common than catastrophic events is a slow drift from one’s values, resulting in eventual misalignment and dissatisfaction.
• The cure: Periodic self-reflection and realignment with clarified values.
• "We were kind of growing fast, but it felt rudderless and all over the place. I actually clarifying my core values... was really like the gasoline on the fire." [17:42]

9. Real-World Examples: Basecamp, Enron, Theranos

• Enron & Theranos: Public value statements contradicted true incentivized behaviors, leading to epic failures.
• Basecamp: Founders' personal values shaped company policy—e.g., banning political discourse, which proved controversial but ultimately increased business health and team satisfaction.
• Key point: Values-based decisions are difficult, often costly in the short-term, but foster enduring strength and clarity.
• "A values decision usually costs you something. I think this is the piece that we leave out." [21:18]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Value Clarity:
  “If you follow the framework, you can get to real, actionable, core values and away from a lot of the one word platitudes that people call values, but that don't really help you make these key decisions in life, which to me is the whole point of having values.”
  – Robert Glazer [02:01]

• On the Power and Cost of Real Values:
  “A values decision usually costs you something... You don't get any credit when your values and the stream are going in the same direction and your boat, you don't get any credit. Right. You get credit when your values and you turn the boat upstream of the current and you're willing kind of to say the opposite of it.”
  – Robert Glazer [21:18]

• On Self-Awareness as Leadership:
  "This is who I am, that's okay. It's pros and cons, but I'm gonna own it. Right. And I'm gonna just go with it."
  – Robert Glazer [14:55]

• On Drift and Realignment:
  "I realized that every single thing they said in my bio came after I had figured out my core values and made all of those changes. So it really pulled all the pieces together and I just felt a lot more confident..."
  – Robert Glazer [18:30]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:01] – What most books get wrong about values
• [03:21] – Why the parable format?
• [05:26] – Why “family” and “integrity” often aren’t true actionable values
• [07:30] – Test for tangible, measurable values
• [08:05] – The “big three” life decisions and value alignment
• [10:35] – Are your values fixed or flexible?
• [12:57] – Example of how unconscious values affect leadership behavior
• [14:55] – The necessity of ownership and self-awareness
• [16:27] – Contextual necessity of values in teams
• [17:36] – The concept of “compass drift” and company alignment
• [19:00] – Enron, Theranos, Basecamp: values in action (or not)
• [21:18] – The true test of values: When decisions cost you

Resources & Where to Learn More

• Learn more about Robert Glazer and access values exercises: robertglazer.com and compass-within.com
• Free “six questions” exercise: robertglazer.com/six
• Book: The Compass Within – A Little Story About the Values That Guide Us

This episode is a masterclass in clarifying, articulating, and living your values—both as an individual and a leader. Glazer’s actionable framework and honest stories make this essential listening for anyone seeking alignment between their inner compass and daily actions.