The Cultural Playbook Ways to Shape and Protect Your Organizational Culture

Want to improve your workplace culture?

It’s not as mysterious as people make it. Culture gets built—or broken—by what you do, who you hire, and the words you use. It won’t form on its own. If you’re not actively shaping it, you’re passively allowing something else to take over.

Here are three areas to focus on if you want to move culture in the right direction:

1. Your People: Culture Walks In with Every Hire

The fastest way to influence culture is through people. Every time you hire, promote, or tolerate someone on your team, you’re reinforcing your culture—for better or worse.

Get the right people on the team.

You want people who align with your values and treat others well. Not one or the other—both.

✅ Offensive move: Hire and promote based on values, not just skill. Reward alignment. That sends a clear message.

🛡️ Defensive move: Remove toxic leaders quickly. Narcissism and low accountability will rot your culture faster than anything else. Don’t delay here.

2. Establish Practices: Culture Is What You Repeat

Culture isn’t built with posters. It’s built with practices. What you do consistently shapes what you value.

Want to build a culture of service?

Then serve. Have your leaders sweep the floor, clean the toilets, or carry the boxes. Not just once, but regularly. Build service into your rhythms.

✅ Offensive move: Set up weekly or monthly actions that express values. If you value growth, maybe it’s regular feedback. If it’s humility, maybe it’s leaders going last.

🛡️ Defensive move: Avoid toxic positivity. Welcome honest feedback. Make it safe to challenge ideas, admit failure, or say, “I’m not okay.” Pretending doesn’t build culture—truth does.

3. Words Matter: Language Builds Culture

Culture follows language. If your team hears the right phrases often enough, they start thinking and acting through that lens.

Build a common vocabulary.

Create short, repeatable phrases tied to your values. Use them in meetings, feedback, and decision-making.

✅ Offensive move: Highlight values when you celebrate, critique, or brainstorm. Show how performance ties back to what you believe.

🛡️ Defensive move: Protect your people’s capacity. Talk about work-life boundaries. Keep workloads fair. Check in and make adjustments. Burnout kills culture.

If You Ignore Culture, Here’s What Happen

❌ You lose great people.

❌ You attract people who tolerate dysfunction.

❌ Results drop.

❌ You work harder and get less done.

If you’re in a position to shape culture—do it.

If not, be honest with yourself and build a plan to move on.

Start Small, Act Consistently

You don’t need a five-year culture strategy. You need to pick one area and move.

🎯 Hire with more clarity.

🎯 Add one practice that reinforces your values.

🎯 Change the language your team uses.

Culture is built by what you allow, what you celebrate, and what you repeat. Start today.