Culture Is the Connective Tissue of Your Business
Reflections from the Business Leader Culture Masterclass
Last week, I had the privilege of opening Business Leader’s Culture Masterclass with a keynote provocatively titled: Culture isn’t a vibe.
Not because I enjoy being controversial for the sake of it, but because I see far too many businesses trying to “fix the people stuff” without ever naming the real issue.
Culture isn’t a mood. It’s not a poster on the wall or beers on a Friday. It’s the system that shapes how your business actually works - how people behave, how decisions get made, what gets said (and what doesn’t). And more often than not, it's the reason things feel hard.
I framed it like this: If your business were a body…
Strategy is the brain.
Systems are the organs.
People are the muscles.
But culture? Culture is the connective tissue.
And when that connective tissue is strained - when trust is low, safety’s missing, or clarity is patchy - everything hurts. You feel it in slow decisions. In unspoken tension. In that “false harmony” where everyone smiles in meetings, but nothing really moves forward.
And here’s the kicker: Culture leaves clues.
The micro-signals tell the story
You don’t need a 100-slide engagement survey to know if culture’s in trouble. You just need to pay attention.
Are the bins always overflowing, have people left their dirty cups on their desks, not in the dishwasher?
Are the plants dead or dying?
Is the office summer party creating excitement or are people already making their excuses to leave early?
Do meetings start with energy, or with five people awkwardly waiting for the “real” discussion after the call?
Does the team feel like a team, or just a group of individuals doing adjacent tasks?
Do people turn their cameras off on Zoom - not because they’re neurodivergent or protecting focus, but because they’ve disengaged?
These are not hygiene issues. They’re cultural signals. They tell you who feels ownership. Who’s switched on. Who’s been quietly switching off.
And they matter. Because culture doesn’t shift through strategy documents. It shifts through micro-rituals - the small, repeated behaviours that tell people what’s really valued here.
That was the standout message from Sarah Matthews’ brilliant closing session:
Culture isn’t built in town halls. It’s built in how you give feedback. Whether your meetings have purpose. Whether leaders tidy up after themselves.
Culture isn’t a side project. It is the project.
In my keynote, I shared just how commercially critical this work is:
Companies with strong cultures grow up to 4x faster
88% of employees would take less money for a better culture
And yet only 42% believe their leaders contribute positively to it
That’s a huge gap. And the price of ignoring it isn’t just morale — it’s growth, retention, performance, innovation.
Because if people don’t feel safe, trusted, and clear, they won’t take risks. They won’t speak up when something’s off. They won’t stretch. They’ll coast, quietly.
Beyond the keynote: the real power of the day
What made this event powerful wasn’t the frameworks (though there were plenty). It was the truth-telling.
Joanna Reynolds (Folio Society) talked about becoming employee-owned — and how moving into an open-plan space changed not just collaboration, but how people showed up
Andrew Clancy (Coreus) shared rituals like “Can’t Be Arsed Days” (mental health breaks, named with a wink), and how interns are invited to shape the benefits package. These aren’t gimmicks. They’re signals of trust, respect, and shared ownership
Kelly Keating brought purpose-led examples from RNLI and JP Morgan - from personal mission statements to job-share matchmaking platforms
And @Robert Cook gave a masterclass in what not to do, drawing on his experience leading post-crisis culture recoveries at Tesco and Majestic Wine. His most sobering line?
“Toxic culture is fatal. It’s not a tomorrow problem.”
So what are you actually looking for?
If you're trying to understand your own culture, don't start with your values deck. Start with what you can see, hear, and feel - because culture lives in the gaps.
What behaviours are being quietly tolerated?
What’s being rewarded — performance or politics?
Who speaks first in meetings? Who never does?
Who cleans up after themselves?
Are people energised, or just compliant?
These are the real diagnostics. And if you’re not looking at them, you’re probably not seeing the whole picture.
Final thought
Every business has a culture. The only question is whether it’s the one you intended.
Strong cultures don’t happen by accident. They are designed, reinforced, and modelled - every day, in micro-decisions and behaviours that compound over time.
So if your business is scaling, shifting, or simply stuck… Don’t just ask what needs fixing. Ask what your culture is signalling. And whether it’s time to start telling a different story - from the inside out.
At Meraki People, we help scaling businesses fix the people stuff that’s slowing them down - culture, communication, leadership, team dynamics.
If it feels off, it probably is. And the longer you wait, the more it costs - in clarity, trust, and time. This is the work we do every day. If any of this sounds familiar, we can help. You don’t have to carry it alone.