Seven core values have guided Centric Consulting since the company’s founding. Explore our blog series that reveals what our core values mean to our CEO and our employees.
A few years after Larry English and his friends started working together at a large consulting firm, they locked themselves in a hotel room for a weekend to start building a different kind of consulting company. Essentially, they wanted a company that would get rid of all the bad parts of consulting and keep the good parts. To them, that meant fewer crazy hours and less travel along with more community involvement, stronger relationships, and a better work-life balance company-wide.
“We didn’t call them ‘core values’ yet, but we rolled up our sleeves and started articulating what we really stood for,” English said. “That’s where our core values came from, and they haven’t changed since that original meeting.”
“We want to be known for having the best service in the industry while staying true to the values we started with, the culture we love, and the way we care for our employees and clients,” English added.
Each of our core values was created with intention. Read how our CEO defines each value and how our people put them into practice each and every day.
Commit to Delivery Excellence
“Delivery excellence is our North Star, and it’s designed into our logo. The ‘echo marks’ demonstrate the good that ripples out, like waves in a pond, when we keep delivering for our customers at the center of everything we do. It’s not just lip service. It’s delivering unmatched experiences that show we treat our clients’ businesses like our own. We can’t exist without that.”
Embrace Openness and Integrity
“Everybody claims to be about openness and integrity, but we see a lot of companies that truly don’t practice it. In terms of openness, we go out of our way—both internally with our employees and externally with our clients—to be completely transparent in what we’re doing. That builds trust. And my definition of integrity is very simple: Do the right thing when no one’s looking.”
Practice Responsible Stewardship
“We want to be a multi-generational organization, which means planting a tree now whose shade you’ll never enjoy. That mindset forces us to always be thinking about paying it forward and preparing the company for the next group of leaders. On a more day-to-day basis, it’s about treating Centric’s resources as if they are your own. We just think that’s a better way to run a company.”
Invest in an Exceptional Culture
“Our culture is the secret sauce of why we’ve been successful. It’s why people come here and why they stay. But the key is to allow culture to be a living, breathing thing. You have to consciously build it and continue to manage it every day in every decision you make. Training everyone on our culture, frequent employee feedback loops, traditions like our annual holiday party, and much more keep our culture alive.”
Ignite Passion for the Greater Good
“Everyone who comes to Centric wants to make the communities where they live and work better. They look beyond themselves, so as leaders we make sure that we allow time for that, encourage it and recognize it. Giving back is a big part of our identity.”
Strive to Innovate
“Innovation is the lifeblood of any consulting organization, especially in today’s age of an ever-accelerating pace of change. Our clients ask us to be thought leaders and help them understand how technology is impacting their businesses and anticipate where it will go next. We constantly have to improve our skill set and our knowledge base to help our clients.”
Live a Balanced Life
“Living a balanced life is one of the main drivers that inspired us to form Centric. The consulting industry often skews toward imbalance. We wanted to recognize that fact and build a company that didn’t overwork people for profit. When people live balanced lives, they are happier, healthier, more productive and more innovative. Building that into our business model has been critical to our success.”
At Centric Consulting, we’ve spent a quarter-century crafting extraordinary moments for our clients. From innovative solutions to personalized service, we’ve consistently delivered beyond expectations. With 1,400 consultants, a custom-tailored approach and a global reach, we’re here to bring you impactful, transformative business and technology consulting solutions.