Values become easier to understand when a team can connect them with something that actually happened. In Turning Setbacks into Comebacks, Kristina Karlsson described how a regular team conversation helped bring the values of her business into everyday view
Her reflections linked vision, purpose, values and systems. They came from her experience of building and later moving on from kikki.K. One practical idea was especially transferable: regularly share examples of what it means to live the organisation’s values.
Share the direction
Karlsson described sharing the business vision with people who came into contact with the organisation, including potential collaborators. She wanted them to understand its direction. Her account also linked a clear vision with maintaining focus when many opportunities were available.
This gives values a context. They sit alongside an understanding of what the organisation is trying to achieve, rather than appearing as a separate exercise with little connection to its work
Keep the reason for the work accessible
The presentation described a document Karlsson used to remind herself why she was doing the work. She acknowledged that this could change and spoke about sharing that understanding with the people around her. The idea was personal, but it connects with a leadership question: how readily can a team find the purpose behind what it is being asked to do, especially when the immediate work feels difficult or complicated?
Use real examples of values in action
Karlsson recalled a Tuesday morning meeting in which the team went through its values and gave examples of how they had lived them. This made the discussion specific and recurring. The contribution did not require a new set of values or an elaborate exercise. It described returning to existing commitments through the team’s own experience, so the language could be understood in relation to decisions and behaviour.
Connect values with choices
Karlsson linked knowing values with making decisions in a world containing many opportunities. That moves the subject beyond recognition alone. A useful editorial application is to ask how a value informed a choice, including a choice that was difficult. This keeps the conversation connected to the organisation’s work. It can also reveal where a value sounds clear in general but needs more discussion before people can use it consistently.
The regular meeting described in the keynote is a practical place to begin. It turns a broad commitment into a conversation about something people have experienced, and gives that conversation a recurring place in the work.
A question to take back to your team
Our editorial reflection:
What example from this week would help your team explain one of your values?
Explore the full conversation
Drawn from Turning Setbacks into Comebacks at SPARK 2026.
Speaker: Kristina Karlsson.
These ideas are paraphrased from the session.
Watch back and learn more by viewing through the SPARK App on your phone.
Media contact: Luke Daly
Chief Executive Officer, ASSA
Mob: +61 414 086 858
About the Australian Swim Schools Association
The Australian Swim Schools Association (ASSA) is the national body representing swim schools across Australia and New Zealand. Through professional development, industry events and its BOSS (Business of Swim Schools) community, ASSA backs the SwimSchoolers who run, manage and teach in the nation’s swim schools. It champions an industry that teaches people to swim and saves lives.
