There’s a popular saying in leadership circles: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” I believe that’s only half true. Culture doesn’t just eat strategy, it’s the operating system that determines whether your strategy ever sees the light of day.
In my role as Chief People & Transformation Officer, I’ve witnessed firsthand how culture quietly shapes everything: from how decisions are made, to which priorities win, to how your people show up in moments of pressure. It is the invisible force powering (or stalling) your business outcomes.
Yet, despite all the talk about culture, many organizations still treat it as a secondary concern, a “nice to have” that gets trotted out during onboarding, ignored during crunch time, and rebranded with new values during reorgs. That’s not culture, that’s marketing.
What Culture Really Is
Culture is not your values poster, your ping-pong table, or your employee newsletter. It’s how people behave when no one’s watching. It’s how decisions get made when stakes are high. It’s the real, lived experience of your employees, often shaped more by middle management than by mission statements.
And most importantly, it’s not what you say, it’s what you reinforce. The best leaders understand that culture is built every time you promote someone, fire someone, launch something, or let something slide.
Three Costly Myths About Culture
- Culture is HR’s job.
No, it’s everyone’s job, starting with the CEO. HR may steward the systems and rituals that support it, but culture is shaped by every decision made at the top and every interaction that cascades down. - Culture is soft.
Culture is not the soft stuff, it’s the hard stuff. Poor culture leads to misaligned teams, decision paralysis, high turnover, and lost revenue. Great culture builds speed, trust, and accountability. It directly impacts execution. - Culture should feel good.
Not always. Strong cultures are clear, consistent, and intentional, but not necessarily comfortable. If your culture is performance-driven, it should feel high pressure. If it’s safety-oriented, it should feel transparent and steady. The goal is not to be liked, it’s to be lived.
Culture Is a System, Not a Slogan
One of the biggest mistakes I see is treating culture as a set of words rather than a system of behaviors.
Starting with a simple belief: you don’t “have” a culture, you are always creating it. The question is whether you’re doing so by default or by design.
Think about:
- Values that are behavioral, not inspirational.
“Work together, swiftly” isn’t just a value, it should translate into how you run meetings, resolve conflict, and share information. - Leadership systems that reinforce the culture.
If your leaders aren’t trained and rewarded to live the culture, your values are just wall art. - Feedback loops and rituals that create consistency.
From onboarding to performance reviews, culture should be wired into every touchpoint.
So, How Do You Build Culture That Works?
Let’s break it down into five actionable steps:
- Define it clearly.
Ditch the generic values and define what excellence looks like here. Be explicit. Would your team know what “dissent to the impossible” means in a performance review or a project standup? - Embed it in systems.
Values mean nothing if they’re not wired into your people processes: hiring, promotions, recognition, decision-making. One weak link and your culture starts to erode. - Hold leaders accountable.
Your culture is only as strong as your most senior leader’s weakest moment. If leaders can ignore or contradict your stated values without consequence, culture decays fast. - Make it visible.
Talk about it. Show how it influences decisions. Share wins and failures through the lens of culture. This creates alignment and clarity, even in ambiguity. - Audit it regularly.
Culture isn’t static. As your company grows or pivots, your culture needs to evolve too. Build in listening systems and course-correct when needed.
Final Thought: Culture Is a Strategic Asset
Culture isn’t just about creating a place where people feel good. It’s about building a company that performs well. In high-trust cultures, decisions get made faster. In psychologically safe cultures, innovation thrives. In clear and consistent cultures, execution is sharper and turnover is lower.
The good news? Culture is one of the few competitive advantages your competitors can’t copy. They can replicate your product, your pricing, and your processes, but they can’t replicate your lived experience.
So if you’re a People leader, you are not just a steward of culture. If you are a founder, you are a strategic architect of how your business wins.
And that starts by treating culture not as a poster or perk, but as your operating system.
