Grassroots and Grand Gestures: The Culture You Live is the Culture That Lasts
The Culture We Talk About vs. The Culture We Live
Walk into any company, and you’ll see culture proudly displayed—on walls, in mission statements, in onboarding decks. Leaders love to talk about it. But culture isn’t a slogan. It isn’t what we wish it to be. Culture is what we do, what we allow, and what we celebrate. It’s what people whisper about after meetings, the habits that shape our work, and the choices we make when things get tough.
The stark reality? Most organizations have a massive gap between the culture they aspire to and the culture they actually live every day.
The Myth of Culture as a Statement
Think about the last time someone described their company culture. Words like innovative, collaborative, and customer-obsessed get thrown around easily. But what do you find when you step inside those organizations? More often than not, the culture that’s advertised is vastly different from the culture that’s experienced.
This isn’t usually about bad intent. Most leaders genuinely want to create an environment that’s engaging, empowering, and inspiring. But culture isn’t a list of values in a handbook or a poster in the break room. It’s what happens when no one is watching. It’s the unwritten rules, the daily behaviors, the things said in Teams & Slack messages and hallway conversations. The real culture is lived, not stated. And more often than not, the two don’t match.
The Subcultures That Shape Reality
Zoom in a little, and you’ll see that no company has just one culture —it has many.
Every team, every function, every location operates within its own microclimate. The culture of a product development team in Singapore might be radically different from that of a sales team in New York. The reason? Leaders create culture.
Each manager, each director, each executive — whether they realize it or not — is constantly shaping the environment around them. How they communicate, what they reward, what they tolerate, and how they respond when things go sideways - all of it contributes to the team’s cultural DNA. So even when a company has a clear overarching vision, the day-to-day experience can vary wildly depending on where you sit.
Culture and Purpose: The Ultimate Connection
What's the common thread that ties these subcultures together? Purpose.
People don’t engage deeply with culture because of free snacks or ping-pong tables. They engage when they believe their work matters. If employees feel a genuine connection to the organization’s mission, culture starts to reinforce itself. When people buy in—when they see how their role contributes to something bigger—energy shifts, ownership grows, and the workplace transforms.
Without that connection, culture starts to feel like a performance at best and toxic at worst.
Can Culture Change? Yes. But Not How You Think.
Culture change doesn’t happen because of an all-hands meeting or a new values campaign. It doesn’t happen because a few new phrases get added to the company website.
Culture shifts in small pockets, over time. It begins when one leader decides and chooses to do things differently. When one team creates space for honest feedback. When one group creates a safe space for innovation. When one department prioritizes transparency. And when those small shifts start delivering results, others take notice.
Real cultural change is grassroots. It doesn’t come from grand gestures; it comes from small, consistent and intentional actions that spread.
The overarching and wide-reaching culture work is incredibly important to create the container for the grassroots work to happen but enabling the grassroots is a key part of a culture transformation and adoption strategy.
So, Who Determines the Culture?
Leaders do.
Not just the CEO or the executive team, but every leader at every level. If you’re managing a team, you’re shaping culture. If you’re setting priorities, you’re shaping culture. If you’re making decisions about who gets promoted, who gets recognized, and who gets heard, you’re shaping culture.
The question isn’t whether you influence culture—it’s whether you’re doing it intentionally.
Because in the end, culture isn’t what we say it is. It’s what we live every day.
The Culture You Create is the Legacy You Leave
Culture is not a one-time initiative. It’s not something you fix once and move on from. It’s the rhythm of the organization, evolving with every interaction, every decision, every small moment. And here’s the truth: whether you nurture it or ignore it, culture will happen. It’s up to you to decide whether it happens by default or by design.
If you lead a team—whether it’s two people or two thousand—you’re shaping the culture that others experience. You’re helping create the environment where ideas either take root or get buried, where people either feel seen or feel invisible.
And while no one leader can overhaul an entire organization overnight, the small things you do – how you listen, how you support, how you lead – matter more than you think. Culture spreads.
So pause and ask yourself: What kind of culture are you really creating? And is it one worth fighting for?
Cultivate empowers organizations to not just adapt to change, but to lead in shaping the future of work. Let us help you build a culture of empowerment and innovation now — send us a message.
