How to Create Great Culture in Tough Times: A Step-by-Step Guide for Leaders

By: Dave Newell

In uncertain economic climates and periods of rapid change, organizational culture often becomes the make-or-break factor for a company’s success. When external factors feel beyond your control, a strong internal culture can be your organization’s most valuable asset. In this post, we’ll walk through a clear, actionable process to build and sustain a high-performing culture—even in the toughest times.

Why Great Culture Matters

You may have heard the saying, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” That phrase underscores one fundamental truth: even the best strategies fail without the right culture to execute them. Culture fuels alignment among your team, influences behavior, and ultimately drives performance. In short, strong culture = strong results.

The Five Facets of Every Business

Culture doesn’t stand alone; it’s one of five key facets that every business shares:

1. Culture
2. Strategy
3. Operations
4. Story
5. Finance

Culture isn’t just another box to check; it’s a linchpin that holds the rest together. When culture is clearly defined and consistently lived, it makes strategy, operations, story, and finance run more smoothly.

Common Roadblocks to Building a Great Culture

Before diving into the solution, it helps to identify what often stands in the way. Through our work with 150+ organizations over the past seven years, three major pitfalls consistently appear:

1. Unspoken Truces
   1. These are the “It’s just the way it is around here” patterns. Culture forms passively, based on individual personalities or behind-the-scenes conversations, rather than through intentional design.
2. Framing Without Action
   1. You may have company values printed on the wall, but if they’re not translated into specific, measurable behaviors, they remain meaningless words.
3. No Buy-In
   1. A “confused mind doesn’t buy in.” If team members don’t fully understand or resonate with the culture (or know how to act on it), they won’t feel ownership or accountability.

Three Steps to Building Culture in Tough Times

Creating an aligned culture boils down to a simple formula:

1. Define a Clear Cultural Framework – “People like us”
2. Identify Measurable Behaviors – “Do things like this”
3. Integrate Through Ritual and Enrollment – Embed it in the way you operate.

Let’s unpack each step in detail.

1. Define a Clear Cultural Framework

“People like us…” refers to the who of your organization. A compelling framework typically includes:

• Purpose Statement: Why do we exist?
• Vision Statement: Where are we going? Who do we want to be in the world?
• Values: Who are we going to be while we do what we do?

Purpose, vision, and values serve as the foundation of your culture. They create meaningful direction and motivate your team to align around bigger goals.

2. Identify Measurable Behaviors

“…Do things like this.”

Words on a wall won’t change actions. You need specific, measurable behaviors that embody your values. One effective way to identify these behaviors is by looking at trust, a key indicator of strong culture.

The Three Elements of Trust

1. Predictive Trust (Behavior + Time)
   • Consistency in doing what you say you’ll do over the long haul.
   • Positive behaviors over time stack dominoes in your favor. Any major breach can knock them all down quickly, forcing you to rebuild trust from a deficit.
2. Vulnerable Trust
   • Admitting mistakes, weaknesses, or uncertainty.
   • The fastest way to rebuild or deepen trust is by saying “I don’t know” or “I messed up, and here’s how I’ll fix it.”
3. Associative Trust
   • The story others tell about you before you even show up.
   • Positive reputation sets you off at a higher starting line, while negative word-of-mouth forces you to work harder just to reach neutral.

Example Behaviors

• We learn and use customer names consistently.
• We own and resolve problems for teammates and customers.
• We show up on time and fully prepared for meetings.

These behaviors are clear, observable, and enforceable—the critical difference between empty words and a truly cohesive culture.

3. Integrate Behaviors Into Your Operations

Once you define and articulate these behaviors, you need to enroll everyone in living them daily. Ask yourself:

• How do we incorporate these behaviors into team meetings?
  • Start each weekly meeting by spotlighting someone who exemplified a core behavior.
• How do we incorporate them into performance reviews?
  • Evaluate team members against these behaviors. Rate them on consistency and impact.
• How do we celebrate them?
  • Recognize top performers publicly. Highlight success stories in company newsletters or award ceremonies.

Build Rituals to reinforce the culture you want. Regular acknowledgment and accountability embed these behaviors into the DNA of your organization.

Putting It All Together: Your Culture “Float Plan”

Use a simple one-page culture plan that includes:

1. Who We Are (Purpose, Vision, Values)
2. How We Act (3-5 Measurable Behaviors)
3. How We Enroll (Meeting rituals, performance reviews, celebrations, onboarding)

Print it, hang it on office walls, share it in team chats, and make it a living document. When tough times hit, these behaviors become your anchor—guiding consistent action and decision-making.

Conclusion and Next Steps

Great culture is a catalyst for great results. Especially in turbulent times, a cohesive, trust-based culture can be the difference between thriving and merely surviving. By defining your framework (“People like us”), identifying measurable behaviors (“do things like this”), and embedding those actions through ongoing rituals, you’ll create an environment where your team stays aligned, engaged, and motivated.

Ready to Strengthen Your Culture?

• Start by listing 3–5 trust-building behaviors for your team.
• Identify one ritual you can integrate immediately (e.g., a Monday-morning values shout-out).
• Share your plan widely and invite feedback.

By following these steps, you’ll transform culture from an abstract concept into a tangible, results-driven system. In tough times—or any time—investing in your culture is one of the most sustainable ways to future-proof your organization.

For more detailed guidance or a deeper dive into each step, feel free to connect with us through our website. Let’s build a winning culture—regardless of what’s happening in the world around us.