Why Most “About” Sections Reveal More Than They Intend

The About page should be one of the most revealing parts of any organization’s website. It’s the place where customers, prospective employees, investors, and partners go to discover who you really are, what you stand for, and how you’re different.

Yet for most organizations, it has become the opposite: a meaningless ritual of corporate buzzwords that tells everyone the same thing—nothing.

“We value our people.”

“Customers come first.”

“Integrity | Innovation | Excellence | Teamwork…”

Read one About section and you’ve effectively read them all.

The Gap That Speaks Loudest

This sameness isn’t accidental. It’s the symptom of a much deeper issue: a gaping chasm between what leaders know they should say and what they actually do.

Every leader understands, at least intellectually, what a great organization requires:

·        Treat people well and they perform better 

·        Deliver quality and customers stay loyal 

·        Act with integrity and trust follows

These aren’t controversial ideas. They produce nods of agreement in every boardroom and classroom. They are, in the truest sense, common sense.

But common sense is only common to those who have seen it lived out. Knowing the theory and executing it day after day are entirely different skills.

The generic About page is the public confession of that gap. It is what happens when leaders substitute aspiration for action, when “good intentions” replace disciplined behavior, and when checking the culture box takes the place of building a real one.

Copy-Paste Is Not Culture

Many leaders see a thriving organization and think, “We’ll just do what they do.” They copy the office design, the perks, the values statement, the job titles—sometimes word for word.

But culture is not a template you download. It is not found in bean bags, free snacks, or a cleverly worded manifesto. Culture is the sum of thousands of daily decisions, conversations, priorities, and consequences. It is shaped most powerfully by what leaders tolerate (or fail to address) when no one is watching.

You can imitate another organization’s artifacts. You can never duplicate its soul.

What inevitably forms instead is a “copy-and-paste culture”—one that looks polished on the surface but feels hollow underneath. And employees feel the disconnect first and most acutely.

What a Great About Section Actually Reveals

When an About page is authentic—not perfect, but honest—it becomes one of the most powerful signals an organization can send.

 It says:

“We know exactly who we are.

We are intentional about how we operate.

We are willing to be specific because we are willing to be held accountable.”

A handful of organizations manage this. Their About sections don’t hide behind vague platitudes; they tell you precisely what they stand for, how they make decisions, and what they will (and will not) tolerate. Those pages attract the right people and repel the wrong ones. They set expectations before the first interview or sale.

Most About pages, by contrast, do the opposite: they promise everything and commit to nothing.

Closing the Gap

Great cultures are not accidents. They are engineered through clarity, consistency, courage, and relentless follow-through.

If your About section currently reads like everyone else’s, don’t rush to rewrite the words. Start by closing the gap between what you claim and what you do. When the daily reality inside your organization finally matches the aspiration on your website, the right words will write themselves—and, for the first time, people will actually believe them.

Because in the end, your culture is not what you say in the About section. It’s what the About section accidentally reveals about you when you thought no one was paying attention.