Am I leading people down the wrong path by saying that people work for cultures, not companies? Absolutely not. When I ask audiences how much more they would need to earn to work in a toxic culture, their responses reveal a profound truth: working for a great company, with great people, under great leadership adds immeasurable value to quality of life.
There’s a growing segment of the workforce that simply won’t consider employers who don’t prioritize culture. If you’re not focused on building a positive workplace environment, you’re automatically excluding a significant talent pool from your recruitment efforts.
The Soul of Your Business
When business leaders think about scaling their organizations, they often focus exclusively on operational metrics and growth strategies. But what gets lost in this process is what I call “the soul of the business” – that founding principle that gave birth to the company in the first place.
This soul contains the initial seeds of your culture, typically reflecting the founding team’s values and ways of doing business. As companies grow, they tend to focus more on building the business and less on nurturing that cultural component. This is a critical mistake.
Without maintaining connection to your founding principles, you end up with a hollow shell of an organization. The heart of what made your company special gets lost in the pursuit of scale.
Building Culture From Both Directions
Culture must be intentionally built in two important ways:
- From the top down: Leadership must model the values, behaviors, and beliefs that create a healthy culture
- From the bottom up: Everyone in the organization influences culture through their daily actions and interactions
Many organizations fail to take intentional steps to help their leaders understand what leadership truly means beyond management. They also neglect to equip their people with practical, everyday development opportunities that help them become better humans.
The companies that thrive focus on continuous leadership development and human growth across the board. This isn’t just about making people feel good – it directly impacts your bottom line.
Dealing With Cultural Misalignment
Every organization has a distribution of talent and cultural fit. You have your stars who embody your values perfectly, those in the middle who are solid contributors, and those who struggle with cultural alignment.
If you want to drive your culture forward, you must shift this curve. This means:
- Getting better at hiring stars who align with your values
- Growing and developing the people in the middle
- Addressing those who create toxicity or act as cultural vacuums
The right time to address cultural misalignment is always now. Be willing to have those difficult conversations, push people to grow, and determine who truly fits your vision. Creating a stronger culture happens through consistent effort, not occasional perfection.
It’s not about perfection. It’s about consistency.
The Value Proposition of Culture
In my work with executives and teams across industries, I’ve seen firsthand how culture becomes a competitive advantage. When companies invest in creating environments where people can thrive, they see dramatic improvements in:
- Talent attraction and retention
- Employee engagement and productivity
- Innovation and problem-solving
- Customer satisfaction and loyalty
The most successful organizations recognize that culture isn’t a “nice to have” – it’s a strategic imperative that drives business results.
Keeping Culture Alive During Growth
As your company scales, maintaining cultural integrity becomes increasingly challenging. The founding team can no longer personally influence every employee. Systems and processes must evolve to support larger operations.
This is where many organizations lose their way. They focus on operational excellence at the expense of cultural cohesion. But the most successful companies find ways to scale their culture alongside their operations.
They create mechanisms to reinforce values, recognize behaviors that exemplify the culture, and quickly address actions that undermine it. They make culture a constant conversation, not an annual initiative.
When I work with growing companies, I emphasize that culture isn’t something you “set and forget.” It requires ongoing attention, investment, and care – just like any other critical business function.
The bottom line is clear: people don’t just work for companies; they work for cultures. Organizations that recognize this truth and act accordingly will win the talent war and create sustainable success in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
