Do you lead culture with intention?
| Dear Leaders, In this April edition, I invite you to reflect on something that already shapes everything you do: your culture. Can you clearly define it? And more importantly; are you truly living it, every day? In this issue, I share a practical lens to help you reflect on your own culture. You’ll also find behind-the-scenes insights from my recent leadership collaborations. |
| Corporate culture is the living DNA of an organisation – a system of truly lived values that shapes everyday behaviours. It shows up in management style, in the way teams communicate, and in the collective rituals that define how work gets done. |
| In reality, culture influences everything. It shapes how decisions are made, the level of team commitment, the capacity to innovate, brand perception, and even risk tolerance. |
| When culture is clear and embodied, it becomes a powerful driver of alignment and performance. When it lacks clarity or coherence, organisations lose the trust of their teams – and their ability to move forward together. |
| In my new article, I share practical and actionable ideas to help you step back and actively shape your culture. |
| Let’s go back to an article from Harvard Business Review: “The Secret to Building a High-Performing Team” (2025). It starts with a business case and leads to a matrix showing the link between culture and performance. Every two years, a global company lost up to $100M on failed projects. The reason? People weren’t speaking up. Feedback came too late. The higher the hierarchy, the less truth leaders heard: a classic “CEO disease.” The paradox? High performance requires risk: saying the hard thing, challenging decisions, speaking up. But under pressure, our brains do the opposite. They protect. Researchers call this gap “the last 8%” : we say 92% of what we think…and hold back the 8% that actually matters most. What makes great teams different? → Connection: feeling safe and valued → Courage: being encouraged to speak up When both are there, people close the gap. They say the last 8%. |
This matrix categorises four types of cultures:
Fear-based → low connection, low courage
Family → high connection, low courage
Transactional → low connection, high courage
Last 8% culture → high connection, high courage
Where does your team sit?
| Last month, I shared the behind the scenes of a leadership reset. This month, I’m taking you into other very concrete situations I’ve worked on. |
| Different sectors: EdTech, luxury, FMCG, defense, senior care. Different formats: consulting, individual coaching, executive team coaching, collective intelligence facilitation. Different challenges: new leadership teams, transformation journeys, onboarding of a new CEO, business expansion.. |
| Always with one objective: aligning leadership and culture to perform better. |