“I really believe in the power of culture, both in a company and in society.”

— Bryan de Lottinville

Many business leaders today will tell you that having the right culture is the key to any organization’s success. Developing a team that is aligned and working towards the same goals with shared values will enable you to move the needle more effectively than a great plan or strategy. That’s because everything in a company comes down to people. 

When you don’t have the right fit, you’re not only creating inertia, but you’re wasting time for the company, your employees, and your customers. So you have to be clear on what your culture is and make hiring decisions based on that definition. 

Guests on the Strategic Momentum Podcast have shared their thoughts on the realities of creating and maintaining culture within a dynamic business ecosystem. Here’s a list of our favorite perspectives and insights on this important topic. 

Do you have more tips to add? Share in the comments below! 👇

Culture and People

1. “Culture is everything. If there are people around you who just say all the right things when you're around but don't do any of the right things when you're not around, there's almost no way to succeed.” — Jim Brady

2. “If you don't have that wonderful magical human mixture of insanity, you won't have a very high-quality product.” — Beth Freedman

3. “It didn't matter that we had the perfect culture or … that we were going to pay top dollar or have the highest-profile position. It mattered that we had something that we believed in and a culture that worked for us.”— Joseph Ney

4. “Maturity is something that doesn't matter how old you are...maturity and work ethic are ageless.”— Beth Freedman

Culture and Environment

1. “I’d suggest making sure you have [a culture] and making sure that it's one that fits and works for you, and then letting people know that's who you are, that's who you're going to be, and that's how things work there.”— Joseph Ney 

2. “From a long term perspective, both companies and people are looking for increased levels of flexibility and agility.”— Steve King

3. “More and more corporations are increasing their use of independent workers, freelancers, contractors, and others to provide flexibility and agility.”— Steve King

4. “We're definitely seeing a disaggregation and atomization of work.”— Steve King

5. “Humans, on average, yearn for stability and predictability – understanding that you can deal with the lack of stability and the lack of predictability of independent work, is very important.”— Steve King

Culture and Values

1. “When individuals are able to give to organizations that resonate with them, they start to participate more in corporate initiatives that have more strategic value.”—  Bryan de Lottinville

2. “When people come together and get behind the values and the mission of a particular company's objective, they create better teams, they work more synergistically, they're more excited about the work that they're doing, they have fewer sick days, and so on.”— Dr. Richard Shuster

3. “This idea that I'm going to foist giving back upon my employees...that is increasingly unlikely to succeed, especially when engagement is your goal.”—  Bryan de Lottinville

4. “Many companies, even ones that are embracing philanthropy and community investment, come at this with a top-down mentality rather than one that is focused on bottoms-up as well.”—  Bryan de Lottinville

Culture and Wellness

1. “[Wellness] is definitely a mindset shift. It's very much moving away from fixing things that are wrong to creating this holistic approach of mind, body, and environment.”— Michael Heinrich

2. “[Wellness] can't just be a one-off... it has to be embraced at every level of the organization.”— Michael Heinrich

3. “If the workplace isn't a destination for healthier living, then it has a lot of follow- on effects on the other parts of your life.”— Michael Heinrich

4. “Creating a culture that's fully pervasive throughout the organization, whether that's leadership, or middle management, or other parts of the organization, is really key when it comes to thinking about wellness.”— Michael Heinrich

Culture and Office Politics

1. “Politics are either enabled or disabled by culture.” — Preston Lewis

2. “Office politics are the combination of humans being humans at work combined with objectives and organizational dynamics of a company.” — Jen McDonald

3. “If the leadership of an organization is highly fractured and/or political, then the rest of the organization will be too. — Jen McDonald

4. “Each environment has its own unique culture, communication style, and energy… and sometimes, if you have the wrong fit, you can’t leverage the whole.” — Kareen Walsh

5. “You should always try to get the naysayers on your side at first, but you also have to be honest enough with yourself when you recognize that it isn't going to happen - this is just somebody that you need to work around, or you need to take into account how you manage up.”— Jim Brady

6. “You can have a great culture, but most workplaces still have politics.” — Tony Orlando