The Leader – Culture Connection

It is my belief that culture is the context in which everything else takes place in an organization. Everything. Else.

Now, the truth is a lot of leaders think they understand culture, but in my experience—they don’t. Or they think culture is a workspace with nap pods, an espresso machine, beanbag chairs, and no dress code. 

These things can influence culture, but they don’t create culture. People, especially leaders, create culture. 

Pioneer of corporate culture, Larry Senn put it this way: 

“Every leader casts a shadow across their organization that impacts its culture.” 

If you are a leader, you are casting a cultural shadow, whether you intend to or not. My hope is that you want to be the kind of leader who creates a culture in which people thrive, the organization achieves, and what you do makes a difference in the world. If so, you’re in the right place.

Making the Connection 

Arthur Hengler is a great example of how a leader made the connection between leadership and culture. 

Arthur began his career in the area of car sales in 2003. Over the next eight years, he honed his skills in sales and leadership. He joined a car dealership that had a history of being stuck in the middle of the pack. In fact, when Arthur arrived in 2011, this dealership had consistently ranked fifth in the area in sales. 

The top dealership in the area was Hendrick Chevrolet dealership. But over the next seven years or so, something interesting happened. As Arthur rose to be the general manager at his dealership, it rose with him. By 2019, it had become number-one in the area and in the top 200 out of 3,500 dealers across the nation. Curiously enough, Art watched as the Hendrick dealership slipped out of first place during that same time and tumbled into fifth place.

After seeing his success, Art was invited to take a step up and become an owner/operator at the Hendrick dealership. It was both an opportunity and challenge he couldn’t pass up. 

When he took the reins at the Hendrick dealership, which had slipped to fifth place in area sales, he expected to find chaos. Instead, he was surprised to find everyone seemed to be doing what they were supposed to be doing. Systems were in place. Procedures were being followed. 

At first glance, everything about the 140-employee organization seemed to be functioning as it should. But as Art dug deeper, he discovered what seemed to be missing was something deeper—passion. 

So, Art began having intentional interactions with everyone on the team. He began one-on-one conversations to get to know each person, ask a single question, and listen carefully. The question: What do you like most about your job? It was a question people eagerly answered. 

In addition to building relationships quickly, he discovered people also couldn’t help but tell him what they didn’t like about their jobs. It seemed that…

Art realized he had a culture problem. By resting on their previous success, they had slipped into a Complacent culture that overly relied on being Compliant (following the procedures that worked before) to survive. Art knew he needed to be intentional about how he was going to Think, Act, and Interact to guide the rest of the team to do the same and shift the culture. 

Art tackled the tough stuff, like bringing people in conflict together to resolve differences. He modeled the behavior he expected, being fully present with a diligent work ethic and passion. He began a leadership book study so they could learn together and give them a shared language they could use to facilitate this culture turn-around. 

He also instated initiatives like Leadership Lunches, #2 Tuesdays, and Story Sharing. All of these provided opportunities for leadership development and growth, celebration of achievements within the organization, and growing connections.

The end result? In the two years since he took the new role, he has led the Hendrick dealership back to the top—#1 in sales in the area once again and back in the top 200 in the nation. He led the culture transformation even through the midst of the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because leaders shape culture.

Leaders Bring Cultures to Life

In the best cultures, leaders harness everyone’s strengths. They know their people, position them to succeed, and equip them to do their best work. As a result, those people become energized and engaged brand warriors who live and breathe the mission. 

They become idea factories who innovate and bring their best work to life. People know they are valued and give their best each day. 

These authentic cultures create a place for teams to flourish as they work on projects that resonate deeply with their personal mission, purpose, and calling. 

Best of all, a healthy culture shifts the focus from me to we as the team feels appreciated. The people inside your organization become invested in each other and know that there is no success unless they all succeed together. 

This healthy culture fuels sustainable growth that drives the bottom line, making a difference and a profit in the real world.