Culture 101

6 Ways to Influence Culture

We know that culture is how a group of people thinks and acts. And we know this can be the difference between great versus poor business results (See What is Culture section).

Question is, how do we influence culture? Here are 6 key ways:

1. Articulate

2. Teach

3. Demonstrate

4. Hire aligned

5. Reward alignment

6. Hold accountable

Let’s explore each.

1. Articulate: Clearly articulate what you want to see

Most companies are terribly unclear about expectations for what it looks like to work there. It might take weeks or months to really know how people work together, and even then, it’s likely very inconsistent.

You must be clear about what actions will define your work environment for the results you want.

Oftentimes, organizations try to influence behaviors/actions with excessive rules and policies, overly restricting the actions you can take. Take these examples:

• You must respond to emails from the leadership team within 30 minutes.

• Client responses require 2 approvals before sending.

• Only hire managers with a bachelors degree.

But this rules-based approach often leads to limiting creativity and flexibility, and slowing progress.

Other organizations take the extreme opposite approach, leaving actions to chance. Some people may be rude or slow to respond, yet this behavior is tolerated with little repercussions. Great people end up leaving or annoyed, and the resulting work is average at best.

The best way to influence culture is through core values. Values shouldn’t just be a few fancy words in an acrostic, but should be outlined in detail for what living them out could look like.

For example, let’s say you want to trust people will get their work done. Your value could be reliability, which looks like this:

• Honor your word as yourself; when it’s damaged it takes a long time to repair

• Take ownership and be someone who can be completely trusted

• Be proactive with updates; mistakes and delays happen but must be communicated

People then have the context to make decisions in line with the values, and culture (aka behaviors) becomes the bi-product of values.

Culture must be made tangible, and have a point of reference, and a great way to do this is through a culture guide.

Here’s an idea of what a Culture Guide could include:

• What values and why those one?

• What do they actually mean?

• How will my day-to-day be affected?

• What does success look like in how we work together?

• What should being a leader here look like?

• What if someone messes up a lot?

• What books, podcasts, articles go deeper into what we’re trying to achieve?

The culture guide is to the team what a brand guide is to marketing. The guide includes essential context that everyone on the team needs.

For examples of what this can look like, see the Netflix Culture Guide or Hubspot Culture Code.

2. Teach: Talk about what the culture should look like

While what you do is much more important than what you say, what you say still matters. Culture is more of a conversation than a proclamation. There is often subjectivity in the application of values, so they take being worked out on a daily basis with a posture of continual improvement.

Here are some situations where you should work culture into the conversation:

• Onboarding: Should include a full intro to culture, with an opportunity for questions.

• Coaching: When leaders are coaching the team and giving real-time feedback, the culture guide should serve as the reference.

• Company All-hands Meetings: Should emphasize aspects of culture that are especially relevant (either areas being worked on or what matters most for the current phase).

• Executive & Team Meetings: It can be beneficial to work in aspects of the values and how to live out, to keep front of mind. There also may be times to coach during or after meetings to guide and set the tone.

• Conversations and interactions: Where it makes sense, it’s good to work values their application into a conversation, to help steer and guide the way you work together.

3. Demonstrate: Set the right example, especially for senior leaders

Culture is about 0.1% words and 99.9% actions:

• Say you value work-life balance, but expect long hours = a work-a-holic culture.

• Say you value accountability, then micromanage = a controlling culture.

• Say you're open to ideas but then don't listen = a closed culture.

Like it or not, those at the top set the tone by actions more than words.

A leader’s actions must substantially align with the values and behaviors in the culture guide. Alliterated values on a wall are meaningless without action. You must practice what you preach since culture is what is actually lived out.

Applied to the EC3 Culture Framework, let’s look at how the 3 pillars must be demonstrated.

With people-first, you must actually show people they matter, which often comes down to hard decisions. Maybe the workload has been consistently too high and work-life balance has been a problem. That needs to be addressed.

With empowerment over control, you must continually set up others to succeed and avoid slipping back into control. You share Context daily, defend people’s Authority, and create a safe environment where the team feels Confident.

And with pursuing excellence, stay focused on making a real impact.

4. Hire Aligned: You must hire people who share your values

Culture is drastically affected by who you hire. The values a person carries, and the way they operate will shape your organization. As a result, you absolutely must hire people that are already substantially aligned. 

Hiring in a hurry, based on skills and resume alone, is a huge mistake with culture, and one that will destroy any hope of building an aligned, high-performance team.

You can help someone improve at customer interactions but if they are not reliable, that is more difficult.

If you are following the EC3 Culture Framework, you are looking for a rare ownership-minded person, not a follower. You want the rare problem-solving, reliable person, who wants to own and excel. And in leadership positions, you want only those that empower, not control.

The type of culture you’re creating won’t be for everyone, and that’s okay. There are plenty of mediocre companies for the masses.

During the interview process, you should share the culture guide, to help make expectations clear and stimulate conversation.

You should find creative ways to assess alignment. For example, let’s say you value critical thinking. One interview question does a great job of figuring this out: “Any questions?” If they have none, that’s a huge warning sign when it comes to curiosity and critical thinking, especially if they had time to review your culture guide. Ask intelligent, thoughtful questions, and that’s a very positive sign.

Again, for the sake of your culture, thus business results, you must not compromise on hiring.

5. Reward Alignment: Who you promote/reward should match value alignment

Promotions send a clear message to the team: this is a person doing something that is what we want to see more of.

Many companies promote those who technically excel. That can be a part of it, but promotions should be for those who actually demonstrate leadership potential.

Candidates for leadership positions should be the most aligned with the desired culture. A leader should have the right mindset, have the right people skills and a desire to support their team.

When someone really embodies the values, they should be rewarded with new opportunities and growing compensation.

6. Hold Accountable: Give feedback consistently and don’t tolerate sustained misalignment

When someone messes up, many in leadership tend to ignore, especially if the person messing up is a manager or strong producer. But for the sake of the overall team impact, strong culture means addressing issues that come up in real-time, not an annual performance review.

Let’s say someone consistently isn’t reliable. What most managers do is to micromanage more, gossip about them and work around them. But what you should do is:

• Coach & provide support

• Give direct feedback with clear expectations

• If no improvement only after the first 2 points, let them go

What behaviors you tolerate send a very clear message. That message: we approve and support the actions of this person. And that’s especially true for anyone in a leadership position.

What often happens when toxic leaders are tolerated is that high performers will disengage or leave. You must coach and give feedback and absolutely must not let the poor behavior continue. The whole team, including those in charge, must have a posture of continual improvement and a desire to stay aligned with the values.

When someone consistently misses the mark, they should be let go. You are likely doing both parties a disservice to try to force something to work that isn’t.

Obviously firing is the last resort, after coaching, providing support, clarifying expectations, etc. But in some cases it is quite necessary for the sake of the rest of the team.

Wrapping it all up

In summary, you best influence culture in 6 ways:

1. Articulate: Clearly articulate what you want to see

2. Teach: Talk about what the culture should look like

3. Demonstrate: Set the right example, especially for senior leaders

4. Hire Aligned: You must hire people who share your values

5. Reward Alignment: Who you promote/reward should match value alignment

6. Hold Accountable: Give feedback consistently and don’t tolerate sustained misalignment

Need a partner to help improve business results with culture? We’re happy to help; just reach out to start a conversation.