Every organisation runs on rules that are never written down. Unsaid rules, values and decisions that appreciate certain behaviours and punish others. That is organisational culture.

Culture changes when leaders start to change those rules.

It is not about what is said

Culture is not about what is said. It is about what is done.

I may say we are one team. Yet I continue to criticise other teams’ ideas.

My team is going to follow me with similar behaviours. And I will support it, directly or indirectly, because this is what I want. Knowingly or unknowingly.

The words on the wall say one thing. The behaviour in the room says another. People follow the behaviour.

So when we say the culture is toxic, we don’t have to go too far to see why it is so.

What leaders value, people produce

If leaders appreciate and value being busy, people will find more work. It may or may not add value. Activity becomes the proof of commitment, and the calendar fills up whether or not anything moves.

If leaders appreciate and value smart solutions, people will just do that, and feel comfortable to look free.

Same people. Same organisation. Different signals. Different culture.

Who we are becomes the culture

As leaders, it is all about who we are, what we value and what we punish. That is what becomes culture over time.

Not the values statement. Not the culture workshop. The small moments that repeat every day: whose idea gets heard, whose gets dismissed, what gets noticed and what gets ignored.

People read those moments far more carefully than they read any strategy document.

The easiest way to change culture is to move people in leadership.

If your team copied exactly what you do, not what you say, what culture would you have?

And what is your organisation rewarding right now that no one ever decided to reward?