Lead Lightly: Culture isn't built in workshops. It's built in what you tolerate.
Let’s not dance around it.
You can run all the workshops, roll out the value statements, even bring in consultants to run your sticky-note sessions (👋 hi, that’s me, but I don’t do fluffy, it must have meaning).
But unless that culture work translates into what people do, say, and tolerate daily, it’s just box-ticking.
Culture shows up when no one's watching. In how leaders behave when it’s inconvenient. In what gets protected or passed over. It isn’t what you say you stand for, rather it is what gets tolerated, prioritised, dismissed, defended, and ignored.
If you’re still pointing to a poster or polished values deck to define your culture, it’s time for a leadership upgrade.
Here’s what culture really looks like:
The 3pm meeting where someone interrupts again, and silence follows
Who gets credit, who gets away with poor behaviour, and who’s always apologising
The “open feedback culture” where everyone whispers in private, but stays quiet in the room
The performance review where truth is avoided because peace feels easier
If you’re not deliberately shaping culture, you’re silently endorsing it. And if you hold influence; it's yours to own.
Why this matters now
A strong culture is structural, strategic, and in 2025, it’s non-negotiable.
The O.C. Tanner 2026 Global Culture Report puts numbers to what leaders already feel; only 16% of employees are thriving in their role. And in the 2025 report nearly one-third of employees reported operating in survival mode, stuck in a cycle of exhaustion, disengagement, and burnout.
By contrast, research tells us employees who are thriving show significantly higher resilience, engagement, and performance, the very traits businesses need to navigate ongoing change.
In short: if you want a high-performing workforce, culture isn’t just part of the strategy; it is the strategy.
But what I’m hearing in coaching sessions confirms most organisations (and as a by-product, leaders) are not nailing it:
“We nod to our values, but they don’t land in decisions.”
“The strategy’s solid, but the behaviour doesn’t match.”
“No one’s really clear on what’s expected anymore.”
These aren’t communication issues. They’re cultural ones.
And if you don’t lead culture, it will lead itself.
So where do you start?
Here are five moves that shift culture from concept to practice.
#1 Define the culture you want
Stop using aspirational words like “collaboration”, “accountability”, “integrity” unless you can name what they look, feel and sound like in daily behaviour. Your team can’t align to vague aspirations.
Try this:
Ask: “If someone watched our team for a week, what would they say we value?”
Then ask: “Does that match what we say we value?”
If not, you’ve got a culture mismatch; but not a branding problem, it’s a leadership one.
Insight: culture clarity starts with calling things what they really are. Straight talk, no spin or jargon.
#2 Don’t just model the good stuff, call out what doesn’t fit
Silence = complicity.
It’s not enough to quietly lead by example. Silence is complicity. What gets overlooked gets repeated. Even (especially) if it comes from your “star performer” or most senior leader.
Try this: pick one moment this week where:
You name the behaviour that doesn’t align
You explain why it erodes what you’re building
You coach toward something better
Insight: you can’t build trust and tolerate toxicity, at the same time.
#3 Embed your values where it matters
Culture is reinforced when it’s embedded in the system of work. It’s in the invisible architecture of the business, not on a poster or in a slogan used on job ads and onboarding.
Look at:
How decisions are made
Who gets promoted
What gets recognised and rewarded
What gets swept under the rug
Try this: audit one everyday process; hiring, meetings, 1:1’s, feedback loops; and ask “is this helping or hindering the culture we say we want?”
Then fix one thing quickly. Not by committee, find a practical change and make it.
Insight: culture sticks when it’s baked into systems, not bolted on with slogans.
#4 Culture champions ≠ cheerleaders
This one might sting, but your “culture champions” aren’t there to plan team-building or post motivational quotes, they hold the line, especially when you’re not in the room.
Your real culture champions
Already walk the talk
Are trusted by peers
Influence without needing a title
Try this:
Spot the people already modelling what matters
Give them power to challenge, reset and redirect
Back them publicly when they do
Insight: you can’t build cultural momentum if the only people carrying it are underpaid, under-empowered, and over-volunteered.
#5 Measure what matters
Culture change needs data, not just vibes. But not another engagement survey that drops into a void.
If you’re not measuring cultural progress, you’re just hoping for the best. (and we all know, hope’s not a strategy.)
Try this:
Track one observable behaviour change
Add one pulse question monthly: “What’s feeling different around here?”
Capture one story where someone did something differently
Repeat. And don’t wait until the next engagement survey to know what’s happening.
Insight: culture work is strategy. If you’re not tracking it, it won’t stick.
Wrapping it up...
Driving culture isn’t fluffy ‘people stuff’, it is the work. It’s the reason people stay, leave, perform, or coast. It’s how change succeeds or stalls. And it’s how trust is earned or lost.
So, if this month was about resetting your leadership (and if you haven’t downloaded the 15-minute reset worksheet yet, check out my free resources), the natural next step is this:
From personal awareness → cultural consistency
From self-leadership → to system leadership
From values on paper → to values in action (system)
Culture needs leaders who go first, then go again.
You in?