You learn a lot about an organization’s culture when things get difficult. When a project runs into trouble, do people step in to help find a solution, or do they point fingers? When teams disagree, do they work through their differences, or do they take the problem up the management chain? Those everyday decisions reveal more about a company’s culture than anything written on a wall.
Strategy sets the direction for a business, but culture influences whether it gets there. It shapes the everyday decisions people make, how they respond to challenges, and how effectively they carry out the strategy. In many ways, culture is how strategy actually gets done. It is how the team operates when nobody is looking.
As a business leader, you own the strategy, but you also own the culture. One does not work without the other. Culture cannot be treated as a separate HR initiative. It is fundamental to how an organization operates and performs.
Culture Shapes How Strategy Gets Executed
A business strategy establishes priorities and identifies the choices a company must make, but it does not ensure people will act on them. Employees have to buy into the direction and understand what is expected of them, especially when they face decisions no one has anticipated. Culture provides that guidance. It shapes how people carry out the strategy when no one is there to tell them what to do.
That shared understanding is especially important under pressure. A strong culture gives employees what I think of as a shared playbook. It does not mean people will always agree. But when there is trust across teams, people can challenge one another’s thinking, work through disagreements directly, and take responsibility for moving forward. That allows teams to resolve problems faster rather than waiting for direction from management.
I also believe organizations need to guard against a hero mentality. It is natural to celebrate individuals who step in and save the day, particularly in sales. But you cannot survive long-term by relying on a handful of heroes. Leaders need to build a culture where people see helping colleagues and other teams succeed as part of their own responsibility. That creates a stronger organization, one that can respond to challenges consistently rather than depending on individual heroics.
Leaders Establish the Culture Through Their Decisions
HR plays an important role in hiring and employee development. But business leaders are responsible for setting the expectations and standards that define an organization’s culture. We reinforce those standards through whom we hire and promote, the behaviors we reward, the accountability we expect, and the example we set when things get difficult.
Those decisions send powerful messages. If someone delivers outstanding results but does so in ways that undermine the organization’s values, rewarding that performance tells everyone that results matter more than how they are achieved. Employees notice those decisions, which shape what they believe is acceptable.
At Evolving Solutions, we have ambitious growth objectives, but I regularly remind our employees that achieving those financial goals means little if we do it the wrong way. We want to grow in a way that reflects our purpose, our passion, and our core values.
Leaders also have to hold themselves to the same standards they expect from others. Several years ago, I heard a speaker say something that has stayed with me: Show up as your best self on your worst day.
I still think about that advice, particularly after a difficult day. Did I handle a challenging situation the right way? Sometimes the answer is no. When that happens, I have to recognize it and do better the next day.
Making Culture Part of How the Business Operates
Core values and culture are closely connected, but they are not the same thing. Core values help define what an organization stands for. Culture reflects how people put those values into practice.
Nearly 10 years ago, when we set out to define Evolving Solutions’ core values, we started with our own people. We put employees’ names and faces in front of us and asked some fundamental questions. Why does this person work here? Why do clients choose to work with this individual? Why do our salespeople trust this technical expert?
We started with a blank sheet of paper, looking for the qualities that made these individuals successful and earned the trust of colleagues and clients. Those discussions shaped our core values. And while our organization has grown and evolved considerably since then, those values have remained unchanged.
We also recognize that reinforcing our values cannot be exclusively a leadership responsibility. Several years ago, we realized that most of our employee recognition came from managers and business leaders. We wanted to give employees more opportunities to recognize colleagues who helped them and their teams succeed.
Today, we use tools such as Bonusly to encourage peer-to-peer recognition. Our quarterly Core Values Shout-Outs and annual Living the Values awards also gives employees an opportunity to recognize individuals on other teams whose contributions helped them succeed.
I believe recognition from colleagues can be especially meaningful. These are the people who see the contributions firsthand and understand how much they matter. When employees recognize and reinforce those behaviors themselves, they take a more active role in sustaining the culture.
Business Results Are the Proof
Employee engagement and retention are important indicators of a healthy culture, but they do not tell the whole story. I see engagement as a signal of whether we are doing things well. Business results are the proof. I look at how quickly we make decisions, the quality of our execution, and whether we deliver on our plans and meet our financial commitments.
The client experience is another important measure. I believe prospective clients should experience our culture before they ever see a proposal or purchase anything from us. When employees from different parts of Evolving Solutions engage with a client, that client should experience one cohesive team, regardless of how many departments are involved.
That is also why I include our purpose, passion, promise, and core values in every presentation I give, whether it is to clients, partners, or employees. I want people to understand who we are and what they can expect from us. More importantly, I want their experience with Evolving Solutions to reflect those commitments.
Client loyalty and referrals are particularly meaningful. In fact, I consider a referral one of the strongest measures of client success. When a client recommends Evolving Solutions to another organization, it tells me we have earned their confidence through the experience we delivered and the relationships we built.
Culture Requires Continuous Attention
For business leaders who want to make culture a deliberate part of their strategy, I would start by taking an honest look at the culture they have today, rather than the one they would like to believe exists. Identify the behaviors that contribute to success, demonstrate them consistently, and give employees the support they need to put them into practice.
Just as important, keep asking for feedback. Listen to what employees are experiencing, acknowledge where improvements are needed, and be willing to make changes. Our core values at Evolving Solutions have remained consistent for nearly a decade, but that does not mean our work on culture is finished.
Culture requires continuous attention as the business grows and evolves. Leaders are accountable for setting the expectations, but everyone in the organization has a role in living up to them. That is what makes culture an essential part of executing our business strategy.
