![\"coffee](\"https:\/\/thetrainingrock.com\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coffe-and-conflict-blog-300x300.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Whenever I kick off a new cohort of leadership training, I always ask the same question early on.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow would you describe the culture in your organisation?\u201d<\/p>\n
What I usually get is a variety of thoughtful answers.<\/p>\n
Different perspectives. Different experiences.
\nUsually with some clear common themes running through them.<\/p>\n
And when we start discussing those answers in the group, there\u2019s almost always a moment where someone says,<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not how it feels in my team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which makes sense.<\/p>\n
Because while there is an organisational culture, there\u2019s also a sub-culture in every team.<\/p>\n
A slightly different flavour.
\nA different lived experience.<\/p>\n
And that experience is shaped, day in and day out, by the leader.<\/p>\n
I lead my team with my personality, my behaviours, my defaults under pressure, my leadership style.
\nYou do the same.<\/p>\n
So no, culture doesn\u2019t feel identical everywhere. And it never will.<\/p>\n
What really matters isn\u2019t personality. It\u2019s alignment.
\nAlignment to the organisation\u2019s values.
\nAlignment to the behaviours in the competency framework.
\nOr whatever your organisation calls \u201chow we expect leaders to show up around here\u201d.<\/p>\n
And yet, I hear this all the time:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are they going to do to improve the culture?\u201d<\/p>\n
As if culture lives somewhere else.
\nWith HR.
\nWith the exec.
\nIn a strategy document or a town hall deck.<\/p>\n
But the uncomfortable truth?<\/p>\n
We contribute to the culture every single day.<\/p>\n
By how we respond when things go wrong.
\nBy how well we disagree.
\nBy how safe it feels for someone to challenge us.
\nBy whether people can speak up without paying for it later.<\/p>\n
And another thing (here I go\u2026)<\/p>\n
People often assume the culture must be great because there\u2019s a fancy coffee machine, free snacks, or some other shiny perk.<\/p>\n
You can have the best coffee in the world, but if people are scared to challenge, afraid to disagree, or get slapped down for speaking up, the culture isn\u2019t great.
\nIt\u2019s just well-caffeinated.<\/p>\n
Yes, some things need to be in place;
\nClarity on the culture you are trying to build.
\nClear expectations.
\nConsistent standards.<\/p>\n
But after that, the question isn\u2019t:
\n\u201cWhat are they going to do?\u201d
\nIt\u2019s this:
\n\u201cWhat am I doing to build the culture I say I want?\u201d<\/p>\n
Because culture is happening wherever leadership is happening. Not just at the top.<\/p>\n
What would your team members say if I asked them to describe the culture in your team?<\/p>\n
Not what you think it is.
\nTheir lived experience.<\/p>\n
What do you think they\u2019d say?
\nWhat would you like them to say?<\/p>\n
And what do you need to do more of or less of to make that happen?<\/p>\n
Because culture isn\u2019t built by what you believe.
\nIt\u2019s built by what your team experiences.<\/p>\n
Rock on.<\/p>\n
(Psst! If you want culture to change without changing how you lead, that\u2019s not culture work. That\u2019s fantasy.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Whenever I kick off a new cohort of leadership training, I always ask the same question early on. \u201cHow would you describe the culture in your organisation?\u201d What I usually get is a variety of thoughtful answers. Different perspectives. Different experiences. Usually with some clear common themes running through them. And when we start discussing those answers in the group, there\u2019s almost always a moment where someone says, \u201cThat\u2019s not how it feels in my team.\u201d Which makes sense. Because while there is an organisational culture, there\u2019s also a sub-culture in every team. A slightly different flavour. A different lived experience. And that experience is shaped, day in and day out, by the leader. I lead my team with my … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-self-leadership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetrainingrock.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetrainingrock.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetrainingrock.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetrainingrock.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetrainingrock.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thetrainingrock.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8740,"href":"https:\/\/thetrainingrock.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8738\/revisions\/8740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetrainingrock.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetrainingrock.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetrainingrock.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}