How To Destroy a Culture

I’m often asked how to build company culture. The more important thing is to protect against how it can be easily destroyed, a lack of value from throughout the management chain.

My personal passion for culture building at companies always centers around a core belief I hold dear. If I’m going to spend 8-10 hours a day at work, I want that time to be enjoyable. No, that doesn’t just mean “having fun at work” , it means a company developing a “corporate personality” that encourages growth and collaboration.

Throughout nearly every role in my career, I’ve delivered on culture above and beyond my core role. In a few cases, it was a clash in management value that disrupted all of the cultural value I know I bring to the table.

In Japan, I was tapped by my company president to lead culture. Despite clear alignment on that goal, my director privately instructed me to make it my lowest priority. Any time I spent building culture was held against me. Needless to say, culture predictably did not improve.

In another company, my culture work was celebrated and well recognized. It directly led to high performance ratings and promotions. This came to a halt when a leader decided my initiatives were a “distraction” despite my performance metrics showing otherwise. I was encouraged to pull back from and downplay my contributions. This forced me to choose between doing what was best for the company or protecting my career.

This is a not conversation unique to my career. I’ve had numerous conversations with other culture leaders blocked by a few individual leaders with their own agendas stopping initiatives that can energize entire organizations. It’s sad to see the few people who step up to be the lifeblood of a positive workplace become actively discouraged.

Thankfully, the solution is simple: Measure the Metrics that Matter (MTMTM). If a company truly values culture, then contributions must be measured and tied to career progression. No cultural impact? That promotion isn’t happening. Seeing a pattern of employees not contributing? Trace it up the org chart to find where the message got lost, and hold that leader accountable.

To build a strong culture, a company needs two key ingredients. Motivated individuals to lead local initiatives, and strong leadership to build a structure that enables them throughout the entire management chain. Culture is built from the bottom up, but can only thrive if it’s valued from the top down.