Culture is often thought of as something everyone in an organisation owns.

There is some truth in that. But it is only part of the picture.

In reality, culture is shaped broadly but defined narrowly. It is interpreted by everyone, but reinforced, and ultimately anchored, by a small number of people at the top of the organisation. This is why leadership teams are not just participants in culture; they are its custodians. Whether they are aligned determines whether culture becomes coherent or fragmented.

Experienced Through Leadership Behaviour

Employees rarely experience culture through formal definitions or stated values. Instead, they experience it through what leaders consistently do, how decisions are made, what gets prioritised, what gets rewarded, and what gets tolerated.

These signals matter far more than any written articulation of culture. Over time, they define what culture actually is in practice, not what is intended.

When leadership teams are aligned, those signals are consistent. When they are not, culture becomes something employees are left to interpret for themselves.

One leader may prioritise speed while another prioritises consensus. One may reward challenge while another avoids conflict. Someone may emphasise accountability while another absorbs ambiguity. Individually, these differences can feel manageable, but collectively they create friction, not because people do not understand the culture, but because they are experiencing multiple versions of it.

Why Alignment Matters

A common misconception is that culture is collectively defined. In practice, it is disproportionately influenced by a small group of senior leaders who shape it through repetition, reinforcement and consistency of behaviour.

They do not define culture in a symbolic sense, but in a practical one. This is why culture does not drift evenly across organisations; it trickles down from the top.

Many organisations attempt to shift culture through communication programmes, values refreshes or behavioural frameworks. But without leadership team alignment, these efforts rarely land in a consistent way. Employees quickly learn that expectations vary depending on the leader they are working with, and culture becomes situational rather than stable.

Culture is often described as something that belongs to everyone. But its trajectory is determined by a small number of custodians at the top of the organisation.

If they are aligned, culture becomes coherent, stable and scalable. If they are not, the organisation absorbs inconsistency at every level.

This is why culture transformation rarely begins broadly. It begins narrowly, with leadership team alignment.

Because culture, while it as felt at all levels, is not just created across the organisation. It is defined, and redefined, by those at the top.

What’s next

Liked this? Next, learn how to separate leadership friction from deeper cultural friction.

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Listen to pioneering global conductor, Kerem Hasan, in conversation with Charlie Coode, discussing how to establish high-performing cultures in the context of live ensembles.

Potential, realised

At Coode, we look at strategy through a human lens because success depends on how people work together. When leadership teams achieve real alignment in how they lead, they unlock performance that may have been present all along but not yet fully realised.

To explore how Coode helps leaders define culture and align it with their strategy and context, visit our services page or get in touch here.

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