Tatnall Insights | Leadership & Culture
Can One Business Have More Than One Culture?
A reflection on leadership, consistency and the cultures that can exist inside a single business.
While listening to Stephen J. Whitton discussing culture recently, it prompted me to reflect on a question I have encountered many times throughout my career:
Inspired by: Stephen J. Whitton and his recent thoughts on organisational culture and leadership through Menable . Stephen’s observations prompted me to reflect on my own experiences over more than three decades in automotive retail. While the views below are entirely my own, they build on a subject that every leader encounters, but few ever fully master: culture.
Stephen made the point that culture starts at the top, and I completely agree.
But my experience in automotive retail is that a business can often have several cultures operating at the same time.
A business can have one vision, one strategy and one set of targets…
yet several completely different cultures.
The Head of Business Dilemma
Imagine you are leading a dealership team of 30 people.
Every day you make time for them. You communicate openly. You create an environment that is welcoming, supportive and safe.
People enjoy coming to work. They feel valued. They understand what is expected of them.
And because of that, they perform better.
Then the culture above you tells a completely different story.
Suddenly support becomes criticism.
Development becomes pressure.
Recognition becomes expectation.
Very quickly, those cultures begin to clash.
Like oil and water.
Culture Is Not Soft
Most people would agree that a positive culture should include accountability, performance, support, recognition and development.
Yet some leaders still see culture as something soft that gets in the way of results.
I have always found the opposite.
The best performing businesses I have worked in were usually the ones with the strongest cultures.
People felt trusted.
People felt supported.
People knew what was expected.
And because of that, they delivered results.
The Real Challenge
The real challenge is not creating a positive culture in one department.
The real challenge is creating a culture that starts at the top and runs consistently through every level of the organisation.
I have seen it done.
Not often. But when it happens, the impact is remarkable.
Perhaps culture is not separate from performance.
Perhaps culture creates performance.
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