What Leaders Really Want to Know About Culture
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For the final Coffee & Culture session before the summer break, we did things a little differently. No slides, no set agenda — just a space to surface the real questions leaders are grappling with around culture.
In the session, we asked our community to vote on the top topics they wanted to explore. Here’s how they ranked:
How can we get the balance right between flexibility and connection?
How do I turn vague values into real behaviours people live every day?
How can we get the balance right between empowered and supported?
How do I get my leadership team aligned and committed to culture change?
How do we keep evolving our culture without adding more complexity?
While we only had time to dive into the top two, the conversation was rich, real, and full of insight.
1. Flexibility vs. Connection: Can We Have Both?
This tension is alive in many organisations right now. While employees want autonomy and flexibility, especially younger generations, there’s a growing recognition that connection — with colleagues, managers, and the wider business — is essential to engagement.
We heard about organisations trying different approaches: mandating office days, offering social perks, creating cross-team events. But results are mixed. In some cases, despite best efforts, engagement scores are falling and attrition is rising — especially among early-career employees who crave connection and learning but often miss out in hybrid setups.
The challenge isn’t just logistical. It’s cultural. Flexibility can’t come at the cost of community. But connection also can’t be forced.
What’s working better? The group shared experiences and one action working well is empowering teams to co-create ways of staying connected — from regular virtual huddles to peer-led learning sessions. When people design the solution, they’re more likely to value it. And when connection is meaningful — not mandated — it builds stronger cultures.
📚 Explore More:
Practical Worksheet: Connection is about more than being in person — explore and target different approaches to enable feelings of connection with teams, work and managers
2. Turning Vague Values into Real Behaviours
Most organisations have a set of values. But when those values stay on posters or the intranet, they risk becoming irrelevant — or even ignored.
Leaders in the session shared that embedding values across large or complex organisations can feel daunting and that this is a live challenge for many. What works better is localising and operationalising them — turning broad themes into specific, observable behaviours that reflect the context people actually work in.
One member shared a useful technique: run sessions where teams map out the everyday behaviours they see — positive and negative — and link them to your core values. It creates a shared language and helps people spot where there’s a gap between what’s said and what’s lived.
Another tip? Start small. Try focusing on regular habits — like how meetings are run, how feedback is given, or how decisions are made. Culture lives in the day-to-day.
Explore more:
📚 Watch back: How to create habits that fuel growth
Final Thought — and an Invitation
Culture isn’t a one-time project. It’s a continual practice — shaped by conversations, choices, and actions over time. This final session was a reminder that leaders aren’t looking for perfect answers. They’re looking for spaces to talk honestly, try new things, and build something better — together.
We’ll be back in September with a new series of Coffee & Culture — and we’d love your input.
👉 Got a burning culture question or theme you'd like us to explore?
👉 Have a story, challenge or experience you'd be happy to share with the group?
Drop me a message — I’d love to hear from you. Let’s shape the next season together.
Until then, enjoy a well-earned summer break. 🏖️
Join the Make It Human Club and access on-demand culture tools and fortnightly insights. Plus — invites to our Coffee & Culture sessions to share experiences, learn from others and build connections.
