One of the questions I am most often asked by CEOs is why their strategy is not landing as expected. The ambition is clear, the financial targets are stretching but credible, and the leadership team has invested time in articulating a compelling plan.
Yet somewhere between a kick off presentation and execution, the momentum stalls.
In my experience, the issue is rarely the quality of the strategy. More often, it is the behavioural environment in which that strategy is being delivered.
We work with organisations at key inflection points, companies scaling internationally, businesses navigating M&A, private equity platforms building multi-entity networks, leadership teams preparing for investment or repositioning after rapid growth. In almost every case, culture has been discussed. What is less common is seeing it deliberately built to support the commercial ambition on the table.
Culture is often positioned as something that supports the business rather than something that enables it.
That distinction matters.
From peripheral to performance-critical
Corporate social responsibility was once treated as reputational, separate from the commercial engine. As expectations shifted, CSR evolved into ESG. Investors demanded transparency. Regulators increased scrutiny. What was once peripheral became central to governance and capital allocation.
Culture I believe is and should be moving along a similar path.
Longitudinal research summarised in recent culture-performance studies shows that strong-culture firms outperform matched industry sectors by 48.45 percent and the S&P 500 by 87.33 percent over time . Five-year analyses demonstrate significantly higher returns on assets and stronger sales growth in organisations where culture and strategic priorities are aligned . Engagement correlates with measurable productivity and profitability outcomes.
So it’s is not so much about an internal morale discussion. It is a performance discussion.
The behaviours of your people delivers the vision
A CEO’s vision is realised through employee behaviours. Strategy becomes tangible through daily decisions about risk, collaboration, accountability and trade-offs. Those decisions are shaped by leadership norms, incentive structures and the values that guide behaviour across the organisation.
When we support leadership teams in defining culture, the work centres on clarity. What behaviours are required to deliver this strategy? What norms must leadership consistently model? Where might incentives unintentionally undermine ambition?
If integration is required following acquisition but leaders continue to operate in silos, fragmentation persists. If innovation is critical but psychological safety is weak, ideas remain unspoken. If growth is prioritised but incentives reward short-term gain above long-term value, risk increases.
What we describe as execution risk is often behavioural misalignment.
The culture–performance value chain makes this visible. Leadership norms shape employee experience. Employee experience influences behaviour. Behaviour determines operational outcomes, which drive financial results. Boards are accustomed to governing financial outcomes. Increasingly, they need to examine the conditions that produce them.
The visible and often costly consequences
When culture is left to chance, the consequences rarely appear overnight, but they are predictable.
We remember at BrewDog, a strong external brand narrative was challenged when former employees described a culture that did not reflect the values being promoted. The reputational impact stemmed from misalignment between identity and lived experience.
Likewise CBI faced serious allegations of harassment and toxic culture. Major corporate members suspended or terminated relationships to protect their own reputations. Leadership changed and the organisation’s future was destabilised.
Across many sectors, toxic workplace signals, negative employee reviews and poorly managed misconduct cases have been linked to share price decline, regulatory scrutiny and sales impact .
The workforce data is equally clear. Employees in positive cultures are almost four times more likely to stay, and over 80 percent would recommend their organisation as a place to work, compared with just 4 percent in unfavourable cultures.
Retention, advocacy and trust are balance sheet issues.
So who owns culture?
This is where we see many organisations hesitate.
Culture is frequently delegated to HR. HR leaders are tasked with building people strategies, improving engagement and attracting talent. They often see the disconnect early, particularly when candidate expectations do not match internal realities.
But HR cannot carry culture alone.
Culture is very much shaped by leadership behaviour, incentive design, risk appetite and governance decisions. It is reinforced in boardrooms, in remuneration committees and in how performance is evaluated.
If senior leaders are not aligned on the behavioural standards required to deliver strategy, no people initiative can compensate.
Ownership sits at the top.
HR enables. Leadership role modelling the right behaviours embeds.
When culture is treated as an operational programme rather than a leadership responsibility, it becomes reactive. When it is shaped deliberately at board and executive level, it becomes a stabilising force for the sustainable success of the business so everyone wins.
Building deliberately
In my advisory work, the most resilient organisations are those willing to examine how their values, leadership styles and incentives interact with their commercial ambition. Defining culture in this context is not about language. It is about alignment.
Clear behavioural expectations reduce ambiguity. Aligned leadership reduces friction. Embedded values guide decision-making under pressure and help avoid the reputational and financial costs of drift.
Culture is not an initiative. It is the environment in which strategy either succeeds or falters.
The question for boards and CEOs is not whether culture matters. It is whether they are prepared to own it.
About the author
Ingrid Brown Principal | Culture and EVP Adviser
I work with CEOs, boards and leadership teams to define the culture and values that enable their commercial strategy, align leadership behaviour and strengthen long-term performance. My work sits at the intersection of strategy, culture and engaging communications, helping organisations build the behavioural foundations that protect reputation and drive sustainable growth.
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