Before You Ask It of Your Team, Ask It of Yourself: How Leaders Shape Workplace Culture
As a fractional HR partner for small businesses and startups, I get a front-row seat to how workplace culture is actually built.
And one of the fastest ways I see culture, communication, and trust start to break down is when leaders ask their teams to do things they aren’t willing to do themselves.
It often shows up in seemingly small ways.
If you want everyone fully present in a meeting and not looking at their phones, put your phone away too.
If you want everyone’s cameras on during a virtual meeting, turn yours on.
If you expect people to show up prepared and on time, be prepared and on time.
If you want open and honest communication, communicate openly and honestly.
If you want people to take accountability when something goes wrong, show them what it looks like to own a mistake yourself.
And if you expect people to follow through on their commitments, make sure they can count on you to follow through on yours.
These things may seem small, but they aren’t.
Your team is paying attention.
Your Actions Set the Standard
We talk a lot about workplace culture as if it’s something we create through company values, employee handbooks, team-building activities, or an annual offsite.
Those things can absolutely support culture.
But culture is really being built in the everyday moments.
It’s how you respond when someone makes a mistake.
It’s whether you give someone your full attention when they’re speaking.
It’s whether the rules apply to you too.
It’s whether you admit when you don’t know something.
It’s whether you do what you said you were going to do.
Your team notices the difference between what leadership says matters and what leadership shows matters.
When those two things align, you build trust.
When they don’t, trust can disappear surprisingly quickly.
You’re Creating Tomorrow’s Leaders
There’s another reason leading by example matters so much, especially in a growing business.
You aren’t just leading the people on your team today.
You’re helping shape the people who may become your managers, directors, executives, and culture carriers tomorrow.
Simon Sinek captures this beautifully:
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
That’s the heart of leading by example.
Leadership isn’t simply about telling people how you expect them to show up. It’s about demonstrating those expectations yourself, consistently.
Because the people you lead today are learning from what they experience.
They’re learning how leaders communicate.
How leaders handle pressure.
How leaders treat people when things go wrong.
How leaders listen.
How leaders hold themselves accountable.
And someday, they may lead someone else the same way.
Consistency Is Where Culture Takes Hold
Leading by example doesn’t mean getting everything right all the time. No leader does.
It means being intentional and consistent about the behaviors you want to see throughout your organization.
And consistency matters.
You don’t build trust by showing up one way when things are going well and another way when things get difficult.
You build it by creating good habits and showing up, day after day, in a way your people can count on.
Those habits become expectations.
Those expectations become behaviors.
And those behaviors become culture.
Before You Ask It of Your Team, Ask It of Yourself
The next time you find yourself frustrated that your team isn’t communicating enough, staying engaged, taking accountability, collaborating, or following through, start with one question:
Am I modeling the behavior I want to see?
Before asking your team to change something, look at what they’re seeing from leadership.
Because leadership isn’t just about setting the standard.
It’s about living it.
Your team is watching. Your future leaders are learning. And the example you set today is helping shape the culture your business will have tomorrow.
