Culture Is Not What We Preach. It's What We Permit.
Why Culture Is Defined by Behavior, Not Buzzwords—and What That Means for Leaders.
When most organizations talk about culture, they point to the posters on the wall. The values statements, the mission, the polished messages in onboarding videos. But real culture isn’t what we say. It’s what we do—especially when things get hard.
Culture lives in the heat of the moment:
…In the conversations that happen after the meeting.
…In the stories employees tell at happy hour or on the drive home.
…In the way people feel—not just about their job, but about themselves while doing it.
And this is where culture development begins.
What Is Culture, Really?
Culture is the emotional tone of your organization.
It’s how safe people feel to speak up, to say the hard thing, or to tell the truth when it’s not popular.
It’s the unspoken rules that shape how decisions are made, whose voices matter, and how people treat one another under pressure.
Culture is:
What’s permitted, not just what’s promoted
What leaders model, especially when no one’s watching
What people believe they have to do to belong or survive
You can have all the right words on your website, but if your lived experience doesn’t match—your culture is out of alignment.
Culture Is Felt
Culture shows up in how people talk about their work.
“I’m exhausted, but at least I’m not in trouble.”
“No one listens unless I have a title.”
“I love my team, but I don't feel seen by leadership.”
“We say we value collaboration, but everyone’s still fighting for airtime.”
This is your real culture speaking.
If you want to know what kind of culture you have, don’t start with a survey. Start with honest conversations. What’s the emotional residue people carry after a workday? How do they describe their relationships with leaders, peers, or even the board of directors? That’s your culture, in raw form.
Culture Development Means Making the Unconscious Conscious
Culture development is not a comms strategy. It’s not a branding project. It’s a commitment to noticing what’s actually happening—and having the courage to align behavior with values.
This work includes:
Examining the gap between stated and lived values
Interrupting performative leadership in favor of real, grounded presence
Building the skills to name what’s not working without blame
Creating systems of accountability that reflect your deepest commitments—not just what’s easy
Too often, leaders try to manage culture by managing perception. But performing leadership—rather than being a leader—erodes trust over time. Even when the intention is noble, the impact is real.
People don’t want perfect leaders. They want real ones.
What Happens When We Get Culture Right?
When culture aligns with values in practice, the results are palpable:
People feel safe to challenge ideas and speak truth to power.
Accountability is shared and relational, not top-down and fear-based.
Relationships become the foundation for performance—not the reward for it.
The customer experience reflects the employee experience (because they’re inseparable).
This is what culture development is all about:
Creating the conditions where people can show up fully, contribute meaningfully, and leave the day with their integrity intact.
It’s not about controlling the narrative.
It’s about cultivating the conditions where a new narrative can emerge—one that’s grounded in trust, truth, and humanity.