From Values to Virtues: The Next Leadership Evolution

Reading Time: 6 minutes

What if the secret to a thriving business isn’t strategy, scale, or speed, but virtue?

That’s the premise behind Chris Carneal’s The Virtue Driven Business — How Timeless Principles Build Winning Cultures. The book reimagines how purpose, leadership, and culture come together to create companies that last. Carneal, founder and CEO of Booster Enterprises, doesn’t write from theory. He writes from the trenches, where vision meets payroll, and culture is tested daily in the messy middle of growth.

In his new book, Chris Carneal starts out with a story about a special trip he took with his mother to Paris. They flew across the Atlantic, catching up, so neither got any sleep. When they arrived, they decided to visit Sainte-Chapelle. While in line, Chris noticed a mason cutting stone with a saw. He remembered the medieval quarry workers’ creed, “We who cut mere stones must always be envisioning cathedrals.”

As I read those words, it reminded me of something I had written previously, The Power of Purpose: Cutting Stone or Building Cathedrals.

Next, Chris introduced an ancient word that was new to me. In Hebrew, the words for work, worship, and service to others are expressed by the same word: avodah. This resonated deeply because, as a Bahá’í, I believe that work done in the spirt of service is worship.

From Values to Virtues

What makes this book special isn’t just its message, but its model. Chris takes us on his journey evolving company values to virtues. He explained how he loved to take guests on a tour of their home office. However, around 2018, he noticed something new.

When his tour reached the wall of core company values and he began explaining them, he could see people’s eyes glaze over. He realized that he had lost their attention.

After a year of research, conversations, and deep reflection, he discovered a word that “seemed like a deeper and timeless version of values: VIRTUES.”

In the following chapters, Carneal goes on to explain how six virtues—Gratitude, Wisdom, Care, Courage, Grit, and Celebration—form a cycle that powers healthy teams and resilient organizations.

Each chapter offers practical frameworks, real-world stories, and suggested actions that help leaders move from words to form habits, and from habits to impact.

Chris Carneal, Live and In Person

I had the privilege of hearing Chris speak at Virtue Village to a packed room. His passion filled the space, his authenticity and energy drew people in, and his generosity sealed the deal when he gave every participant a free copy of his new book.

That small act captured the heart of his message: virtue in action.

Why It Matters

Too many leaders treat culture as a campaign instead of a commitment. Carneal reminds us that leadership built on virtue isn’t a soft skill — it’s a human skill that is a competitive advantage.

Where values tend to describe ideals, virtues describe behavior. Virtues turn belief into action. When leaders demonstrate them, they strengthen their character and are admired by others. When leaders embody them, organizations transform from the inside out.

For anyone who’s ever wondered whether principle-centered leadership can thrive in today’s fast-moving, AI-saturated world, this book answers with a resounding “YES!”

My Top 3 Takeaways

1. Virtues are verbs.

Carneal makes it clear: a company’s culture is defined by what people do when no one’s watching. Virtues are the verbs that make values visible.

2. Six virtues. One cycle. Infinite impact.

Each virtue is presented in a specific order and feeds the next — gratitude fuels wisdom; care drives courage; grit sustains progress; and celebration renews the spirit. Together they form a rhythm of renewal.

3. Faith fuels function.

Carneal doesn’t hide his faith, but he shares it in a way that invites everyone, regardless of belief, to explore how timeless principles can build trust and purpose in modern business.

3 Ways You Can Use This Book Today

At the end of each chapter, Chris outlines a series of tips to encourage the reader to take action. These are very practical steps a leader can take to bring the work alive. The following isn’t in the book; it’s more my own personal take looking at the book holistically and through the lens of my personal quest to Lead with Light.

1. Pick a virtue and make it a practice.

Start with one — gratitude, courage, care, or another one that speaks to you — and look for three chances today to demonstrate it. You’ll be surprised how quickly it multiplies.

2. Bring virtues into your leadership language.

Ask your team, “Which virtue showed up this week? Where can we show more of it next?” It’s amazing how fast conversation turns into commitment.

3. Recalibrate your compass.

Reread your organization’s stated values. Then ask, “Are we living them or are they just words on a wall?” Carneal’s framework gives you a mirror — and a map — for the answer.

Parting Thoughts

Reading The Virtue Driven Business was more than a good leadership read; it’s an affirmation that my whisper yearning to be a roar is timely and relevant.

My ongoing quest — to help leaders build a career on character and a culture on virtue-driven action — isn’t a pipedream. Chris Carneal is living proof that it’s possible. And, might I say, he’s excelling at it.

This isn’t just a book about leadership. It’s a call to action for every leader who believes that success and goodness can coexist, that business can be both principled and profitable.

Well done, Chris… and his team, as we all know it takes a village. And in Chris’ case, it’s a “Virtue” Village.

Be clear. Be kind. Lead with Light! ✨