Strategies for CEOs to Refresh and Assess their Corporate Atmosphere: Key Points
In the dynamic world of business, CEOs play a pivotal role in shaping the culture of their organisations. A thriving corporate culture is essential for success, and in uncertain times, it becomes even more crucial.
Legendary Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz once said, "I never knew who my best players were until my team lost." This sentiment rings true in the business world, where leaders must regularly evaluate their company's culture to identify what's working and what needs improvement.
A struggling corporate culture can manifest in various ways, such as high employee turnover, particularly of top talents, goals not being met, lack of trust, blame-shifting, poor communication, decision-making delays, fear of mistakes, and silos forming. However, true competitors step up in tough times, and winners find a way to come out on top in the face of the greatest challenges.
So, what can CEOs do to build and maintain a solid corporate culture? Here are six effective strategies:
1. Define and Live Core Values Consistently: CEOs should identify authentic core values that truly matter to the organisation (e.g., collaboration, integrity, innovation, empathy) and involve employees in this process to secure their buy-in. These values must be operationalised into daily behaviours and integrated into all company processes. Senior leadership must consistently embody these values, as hypocrisy at the top rapidly erodes trust and culture.
2. Prioritise Open, Transparent, and Inclusive Communication: Creating an environment of psychological safety enables employees to speak up, admit mistakes, share ideas, and provide constructive criticism without fear of reprisal. Establishing multiple communication channels—both formal and informal—ensures all voices can be heard. Leaders should provide honest and regular updates about company performance and challenges while actively listening to teams. CEOs must also model inclusive communication by acknowledging diverse perspectives and closing feedback loops by transparently sharing outcomes.
3. Champion and Model Culture as Chief Storyteller: High-performing CEOs actively articulate and embody the organisation’s culture and values through clear storytelling across all stakeholder engagements. By setting communication standards and speaking up in key moments, they build long-term trust and accountability. This cultural leadership fosters open information sharing, learning from failures, and adopting new behaviours vital in uncertain environments.
4. Build Trust at All Leadership Levels: Trust within the senior leadership team is foundational, cascading through the organisation to reinforce or undermine culture efforts. CEOs should actively manage power dynamics, ensure diverse leadership representation, create safe spaces to practice inclusive behaviours, and enforce accountability for those behaviours. This top-level trust amplifies cultural norms company-wide.
5. Make Culture Tangible and Measurable: Develop culture handbooks or “operating systems” that document values, policies, and practices, making them accessible and living documents. Regularly measure culture health through pulse surveys, one-on-one discussions, and exit interviews. Use these insights to adapt policies and behaviours continuously. Culture must be intentionally shaped or it will form by default—proactive measurement and adaptation strongly correlate with financial performance.
6. Lead by Example in Work-Life Balance and Well-being: CEOs’ personal behaviours signal what really matters; for instance, respecting work-life boundaries by not sending emails late at night or blocking time for family sends a powerful message to employees about priorities and well-being.
By embedding these strategies into their leadership approach, CEOs can create resilient, inclusive, high-performing cultures capable of navigating uncertainty while engaging and retaining talent effectively. When leaders recognise the symptoms of a struggling corporate culture, they can start taking steps to revitalise it. Communication in the best companies is proactive, frequent, and respectful. A solid executive team is actively involved with teams to solve problems collaboratively and ensure everyone understands the vision and strategy. In the best companies, there's a sense of purpose, camaraderie, and joy in the workplace.
In the business world, where CEOs play a significant role in shaping organizational culture, fostering a strong financing culture is crucial for success. To do so, CEOs can prioritize open, transparent, and inclusive communication (communicating regularly about company performance and challenges, encouraging employee feedback, and fostering a psychologically safe environment) as part of their leadership strategy. Effective leaders build trust at all leadership levels, making culture tangible and measurable, and consistently embody their organization's core values in their words and actions, acting as the Chief Storyteller. By doing so, CEOs can create a resilient, high-performing culture that effectively engages and retains talent, even in uncertain times.
