Culture: The Growth Strategy Most Leaders Overlook
One of the most common things I hear from leadership teams is:
“We’d love to do some culture work, but right now our focus has to be growth.”
It’s a familiar dilemma.
When the pressure is on to hit targets, expand markets, or increase profitability, culture can feel like a “nice to have” — something to revisit when things settle down.
But here’s the truth:
Culture isn’t a distraction from growth. It’s what makes growth possible.
Culture is more than morale
When we talk about culture, we’re not just talking about how people feel at work.
We’re talking about how your business functions:
- How decisions are made
- How problems get solved
- How accountability is held
- How results are delivered
Culture is the business’s operating system. It’s the invisible infrastructure that shapes behaviour, drives performance, and determines how effectively the strategy is executed.
If that system isn’t built for growth, growth will be harder, slower, and more expensive.
The cost of misalignment
When culture and growth strategy aren’t aligned, you’ll see symptoms like:
- Bottlenecks in decision-making
- Resistance to change
- Blame instead of accountability
- Burnout and disengagement
- High turnover in key roles
These aren’t just HR issues — they’re business issues. And they directly impact your ability to scale.
Culture as a growth lever
The most successful growth-focused businesses don’t treat culture as an afterthought. They design it intentionally to support their vision.
That means asking:
- What kind of culture will drive the growth we want?
- What values must guide our decisions?
- What behaviours do we need to see consistently?
- What leadership approach will unlock our team’s potential?
When culture is aligned with strategy, it becomes a growth lever — not a barrier.
Start with intentionality
You don’t need a full-scale culture overhaul to get started. Begin by:
Clarifying your vision
What does success look like?
Identifying cultural enablers and blockers
What’s reinforcing or undermining progress?
Engaging your leadership team
What behaviours are modelling the culture we want?
Embedding culture into strategy
Make it part of how you plan, lead, and measure success.
Culture and growth aren’t competing priorities. They’re partners.
And when they work together, your business doesn’t just grow — it grows stronger.