Culture isn’t what you say, it’s what you do

I’ve read a lot of books on building a culture at work. A lot of the advice is well intentioned but to me overly complex. A 20-step framework is a lot harder to live by than a simple operating principle. Culture is something people feel and live more than implement.

Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz wrote in his book What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture, “It’s not the values you list on the wall. It’s not what you say in company-wide meetings. It’s not your marketing campaign. It’s not even what you believe. Who you are is what you do.”

For me, culture is created through actions. It’s the choices leaders make every day that shape how people experience their work. Words can motivate, but actions are what transform. I feel strongly that culture lives in daily behavior, in the decisions that happen behind closed doors, and in the examples leaders set. When those actions don’t match the message, culture starts to crumble.

“At its core, culture is the outcome of how people treat one another. You can read an organization’s culture in the everyday interactions between team members, customers, partners, and other stakeholders,” notes Dan Pontefract, a leadership strategist and award-winning author of six workplace culture books. “Good or bad, culture is contagious. When people observe respect and generosity, that behavior spreads. But when they see apathy, ego, or petty power plays rewarded, the culture will inevitably corrode. Wherever you look, culture is an outcome, and it becomes the core of how that organization operates.”

When Leaders Don’t Live Their Values

You probably remember when Uber experienced its explosive growth in the early 2010s. CEO Travis Kalanick was known for being bold and disruptive, in more ways than one. The company’s “innovation at all costs” mantra fueled success, but behind the scenes the culture was the opposite.

Despite all the values-based talking points emphasizing “customer obsession” and “empowerment,” employees defined the culture as toxic, with high levels of burnout, ruthless competition, and ethics issues. People complained about long hours, fear-based leadership, and a lack of trust and accountability. In 2017, former engineer Susan Fowler went public with her experience, describing a workplace filled with harassment, fear, and silence.

Uber’s culture didn’t fail because it lacked values. In fact, it listed many of them on its website that sounded like ones you read about as “best practices” in Harvard Business Review. Actually, it failed because those values weren’t real because they weren’t practiced. What leaders said and did were two totally different things. Eventually Kalanick was fired and the company had to rebuild its culture from scratch. 

When Leaders Do Live Their Values

Microsoft is a different story. When Satya Nadella took over as CEO in 2014, the company’s culture was competitive and closed off. It was struggling to innovate and it was losing touch with its people, trying to operate in an industry that required constant change. Nadella knew that the strategy wasn’t the big issue, the culture was.

Instead of rolling out a new list of corporate values, as CEOs tend to do in grand fashion, he focused on improving behavior. Uncharacteristic for a tech exec, he talked about empathy, curiosity, and growth, and then he modeled them. Nadella openly shared his own learning journey and encouraged people to learn from mistakes. He talked about taking the company from a “know it all” culture to a “learn it all” culture. He created space for collaboration and growth instead of competition and fear.

The shift is attributed to Microsoft’s dramatic increase in revenue and success in cloud computing and AI. Employee engagement improved, innovation returned, and Microsoft regained its energy and purpose. The company became known for its empathy-driven leadership and ability to adapt. Nadella didn’t just talk about culture, he lived it—and people followed.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Culture isn’t what you say in meetings; it’s what people see you do that matters. If I tell people to say no to meetings but I attend every meeting, people will live in fear of my words. If I tell people to challenge the status quo and they see me actively questioning assumptions, they’re much more likely to do it themselves. When your actions reflect your words, trust grows. When they don’t, it fades fast.

Kevin Bishop, director of talent development at LinkedIn, believes culture is one of the most important things an organization can focus on. “Culture isn’t static,” he says. “It’s a living, evolving force shaped by our daily choices and actions. If we’re not intentional, it can drift away from our values and become a liability rather than a strength.”

Are your actions aligned with your words? Do you practice what you preach when it comes to team culture? Ask yourself these questions:

• What words would I use to describe my team’s culture? How am I demonstrating those words every day? 
• What word would my team use to describe our culture? 
• How am I empowering my team to succeed?
• How am I removing barriers instead of creating them?

If you’re brave enough, this is a great exercise to do with your team to shape the culture you want, together.

Leading by Example

Culture isn’t a set of beliefs. It’s a set of choices. Every day, your team watches what you do and learns from it. That’s what defines your culture. If your actions reflect your values, people will trust you. If they don’t, they’ll stop listening. The best leaders understand this simple truth: Culture is not what you say, it’s what you do.

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