“Culture is circular. It begins each morning and runs through the day and night. It doesn’t sleep. It is the silent sentinel that stands guard 24/7, 365 days a year. When culture takes a break, organizations falter, businesses crumble, and talent walks away.”

— Dr. Jag Bhanver

In boardrooms across the world, culture used to be an afterthought: the “soft stuff” that lived in values statements on websites and annual reports. But the last decade—especially the past few turbulent years—has forced a reckoning.

Organizations have learned, often the hard way, that culture is not window dressing. It is the load-bearing structure of an organization’s identity, its performance engine, and its most reliable risk-management system.

Today’s most exceptional organizations understand that culture is not static. It is a living, breathing system that must be designed, nurtured, and evolved continuously. As work changes—through AI, generational shifts, hybrid models, and geopolitical instability—so too must the cultural DNA that holds organizations together.

But what is culture? Why does it matter so profoundly to performance? And how can leaders design cultures robust enough to deliver consistent excellence, while staying flexible enough to evolve?

“Culture isn’t something you build on top of a company. It’s the foundation—the centre of the business strategy.”
— Louis Carter

This cover story explores those questions in depth—drawing on research, real-world examples, and insights from some of the world’s foremost culture architects.

1. What is Culture, and Why Does it Matter?

“Culture is not an initiative. It’s who you are.”
— Louis Carter

Culture can be defined simply as “how things really get done around here.” It is the sum of shared values, beliefs, behaviors, rituals, and unspoken norms that guide everyday decisions.

But this simplicity is deceptive. Culture is the invisible force that shapes strategy execution, talent retention, innovation, customer experience, and reputation.

As Dr. Lana El Chaar puts it:

“The most brilliant strategies fall flat without a culture that fuels them. Culture isn’t a backdrop—it’s the engine.”

Culture is not about slogans or policies alone. It is about how people behave when no one is watching. As Dr. El Chaar reminds us:

“What defines us is not policy or process, but the behaviors we choose when no one’s watching. Culture is the unseen force that shapes our legacy—one decision at a time.”

In other words, culture is the collective personality of an organization. It determines not just what gets done, but how it gets done. And in an era of constant change, that “how” matters more than ever.

2. Culture as a Strategic Asset: Evidence and Examples

The Performance Premium

Culture is not merely a moral imperative. It is a strategic advantage.

According to a 2024 MIT Sloan study, companies that embed agility into both structure and mindset were 42% more likely to outperform peers during market turbulence.

McKinsey’s 2024 research similarly found that companies with diverse, inclusive leadership teams generate up to 33% more value creation than their less-inclusive peers.

But statistics tell only part of the story. The real proof lies in how companies are turning cultural investments into competitive advantage.

Microsoft: The Empathy Revival

When Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft, he didn’t launch with a flashy new product strategy. He began by shifting the tone of leadership to one of empathy and humility.

This pivot laid the groundwork for one of the most remarkable corporate revivals in history—turning a stagnating tech giant into a cloud powerhouse with a market capitalization that has more than tripled since his appointment.

Nadella’s lesson? Emotional intelligence isn’t a nice-to-have—it is a foundational operating system.

Unilever: Culture in Action

Unilever offers another striking case. 

In 2023, the company faced rising attrition and disengagement among Gen Z hires. Traditional engagement surveys were no longer delivering actionable insights.

Instead, leaders reframed the question:

“What do our people feel, every day?”

The response? A complete cultural rewiring:

• EI-based hiring assessments prioritizing empathy and adaptability.
• Localized “empathy labs” on every continent, where teams co-designed inclusive rituals.
• Manager scorecards measuring trust and emotional climate, alongside results.

The outcome was dramatic:

• Employee satisfaction up 25%.
• Early attrition down 16%.
• Global collaboration and innovation cycles accelerated.

Unilever’s approach wasn’t a campaign. It was a systemic redesign—one that embedded agility, emotional intelligence, inclusion, and sustainability as core cultural pillars.

3. The Blueprint for a Culture That Drives Excellence

What does it take to design a culture capable of delivering sustained excellence? Research and experience point to five interlocking pillars:

i. Agility: Beyond Speed

“Agility without empathy is chaos. Psychological safety powers fast, smart decisions.”
— Culture Truth #1

Agility is more than faster processes. It is about creating cultural conditions that allow teams to respond to ambiguity, disruption, and opportunity with clarity and cohesion.

Consider a global logistics firm that adapted its operations within hours when the Ukraine crisis disrupted supply chains. This wasn’t tactical brilliance alone—it was the cultural empowerment of frontline teams to act without waiting for top-down directives.

Agility requires trust, autonomy, and psychological safety. Without these, speed becomes reckless, not effective.

ii. Emotional Intelligence: The Cultural Operating System

“Empathy isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a survival skill. Especially when everything is moving fast.”
— Tanya Sorel, Chief People Experience Officer at a Berlin-based tech firm

Microsoft’s transformation is the poster child for how EI can redefine performance. But they’re not alone.

• Google’s “Search Inside Yourself” program boosted productivity by 27%.
• Cleveland Clinic’s EI-based leadership training cut burnout by 50%.
• Teach For America saw a 30% increase in team collaboration post empathy training.

These aren’t side projects. They are core strategies for retention, innovation, and resilience.

iii. Inclusion: The Innovation Multiplier

“We stopped hiring for ‘culture fit’. Now we hire for ‘culture add.’”
— Global CHRO

True inclusion is not just about who gets a seat at the table—but who feels safe enough to speak, challenge, and lead.

McKinsey’s findings on value creation are borne out in real-world stories. A fintech firm in Nairobi expanded its hiring pool to rural, underrepresented candidates, diversifying its product pipeline and tripling innovation within months.

Forward-thinking firms today embrace neurodiversity, socioeconomic inclusion, and intersectionality—not out of obligation, but because they deliver better outcomes.

iv. Sustainability: The Social Side of Performance

“Sustainability used to be a CSR checkbox. Now it’s part of our people data.”
— Steve Watmore, Sage

Culture that depletes people cannot scale. In Southeast Asia, multi-university research showed that companies embedding ESG practices saw better retention and engagement—but only when social governance was translated into real policies.

Companies like Schneider Electric embed ESG metrics into leadership programs and compensation design, ensuring that sustainability is not just a separate initiative but a core cultural expectation.

v. Innovation: Culture’s Brightest Output

“Our most disruptive ideas don’t come from our most experienced people. They come from the ones asking naive, unexpected questions.”
— CHRO, Global Biotech Firm

Agility, empathy, inclusion, and sustainability are not ends in themselves. They are the fertile soil in which innovation grows.

Psychological safety and diverse collaboration fuel risk-taking and creativity. In a world where technology levels the playing field, it is culture that becomes the ultimate differentiator.

4. Pitfalls and Cultural Nuances Leaders Must Look Out For

Designing a strong culture is not risk-free. Several common pitfalls stand in the way:

• Toxic Consistency: Over-emphasis on “fit” can breed groupthink and stifle dissent.
• Slogan Over Substance: Values on the wall mean nothing if they aren’t lived daily.
• Change Fatigue: Pushing transformation without listening leads to disengagement.
• Cultural Imperialism: Rolling out global norms without local adaptation breeds resistance.

As Dr. T V Rao warns:

“Culture is our next CEO for all those organizations that have succeeded in establishing a strong culture with high ethical values and integrity.”

Leaders must ensure that culture is not about enforcing sameness but about aligning shared values while allowing local nuance.

5. Leadership, HR, and Vision: The Culture Triad

“Exceptional organizations don’t ‘add’ culture—they design it, protect it, fight for it, and align every system and practice to reinforce it.”
— Louis Carter

Culture is not the job of HR alone. It is the shared responsibility of leadership, people teams, and every employee. But three forces define it most profoundly:

• Leadership sets the tone: Behaviors modeled at the top cascade throughout the organization. Leaders must embody the values they preach.
• HR operationalizes culture: From hiring practices to performance management, HR ensures systems reinforce, not contradict, the desired culture.
• Organizational Vision guides culture: Without a clear sense of purpose, cultural efforts lose coherence.

As Dr. Rao observes:

“With strong cultures you don’t need to search for CEOs with extraordinary talent. Just make sure they integrate and promote the already established culture.”

This is the ultimate test of culture as strategy: designing an environment so robust that it can outlast any single leader or market shock.

The New Cultural Imperative

“Culture isn’t a PowerPoint slide. It’s every choice, every compromise, and every moment of integrity. Get that right—and you won’t just future-proof your business. You’ll make it unforgettable.”
— Paul Polman, Former CEO, Unilever

As organizations race into an uncertain future, culture has become not just a differentiator but a survival requirement.

Exceptional organizations don’t leave culture to chance. They design it, invest in it, measure it, and evolve it.

Because in the end, strategy, technology, and even talent will only get you so far.

Culture is the ultimate competitive advantage. It is the DNA of exceptional organizations.