👋 Hey, Carlos here! Welcome to “The Holistic Leader”, your weekly source of simple and honest leadership, Agile, Management & team insights.
Changing the way people work in a company is tough.
It’s not just about new tools or rules, it’s about changing how we think, act, and lead.
That’s never easy.
Culture is what makes a company feel a certain way.
It’s the unspoken rules.
The habits.
The ways of doing things.
The tricky part?
👉 Culture is invisible.
We don’t always see it, but we can feel it, and it’s hard to change because people are comfortable with what they know.
As leaders, we’ve all faced this. You come in with a great idea to make things better, but the response is, “That won’t work here,” or “We’ve always done it this way.”
It’s not that people don’t want things to improve; it’s just that change feels risky and uncomfortable.
Our brains prefer things that stay the same because it feels safe.
So, instead of forcing change, we need to start by leading the way.
If we change how we act and show that it’s possible, others will start to follow.
Here are 7 ways that helped me “hack” a culture.
1. Create Emotional Buy-In
People don’t change because of numbers, they change when they feel connected to the reason behind it.
👉 Help them see how it affects them personally.
Strategy:
Personal stories create emotional connections, making the change feel meaningful and achievable.
2. Honor Small Wins
Big changes can feel too much all at once.
👉 Focus on making small improvements that will grow into something bigger over time.
Strategy:
Find a small, low-risk area where change is needed, implement a solution, and share it. If collaboration across departments is a challenge, start with one cross-team project and highlight its success. As momentum builds, larger cultural shifts will become easier to achieve.
3. Act By Example
Cultural shifts start with leadership.
👉 Your team watches your actions more than your words, and they follow your lead.
Strategy:
Take calculated risks in front of your team.Run a new initiative and openly share both successes and failures.
By being transparent about the process, you create a culture where taking risks is normalized.
4. Nurture New Habits
Culture is shaped by the things we do every day.
To create a new culture, leaders need to bring in easy, repeatable actions that match the values they want to see.
👉 By making these actions a regular part of the routine, the new culture will take root over time. Simple steps, done consistently, help everyone understand and live the change together.
Strategy:
Introduce a regular habit that helps build the new culture.This will become a part of the team’s routine and naturally strengthens the new culture without needing big changes.
It’s a simple way to keep everyone focused on progress and feeling positive.
5. Go Beyond the Surface
Cultural problems often come from things people don’t say out loud.
👉 As a leader, it’s important to listen carefully and notice any fears or issues that might be stopping your team from moving forward.
Strategy:
Ask open-ended questions like, “What’s the biggest challenge we’re facing?” or “What’s not working for you?”Pay attention to their body language and what they don’t say as much as what they do. Many times, the real problems come from these unspoken worries, and that’s where you’ll find what’s truly blocking progress.
6. Encourage Challenging Status Quo
People often resist change because staying the same feels safe and comfortable.
👉 To make change happen, you need to show that sticking to old ways can actually be a bigger risk.
Strategy:
Use real facts and numbers to explain the cost of not changing.Show how old processes are wasting time, losing money, or hurting employee morale.
Focus the conversation on how change will solve problems people already have, rather than making them feel like it's just adding more work.
7. Showcase Every Success
Positive reinforcement is key to sustaining cultural shifts.
👉 When teams see their efforts recognized, it fuels motivation and reinforces the desired behaviors.
Tip: Catch a team member doing something right and tell them. (We usually tell people what they do wrong and not quite the opposite)
Strategy:
Publicly acknowledge and reward small and large successes alike.Recognize not only outcomes but also efforts.
💡 Final Thoughts
Cultural change doesn’t happen by chance. It happens through intentional actions and consistent leadership.
Real change starts when leaders take the first step and commit to the process.
Ask yourself: What’s the first small win I can achieve this week to start shifting your team’s culture?
Share the love ❤️
I enjoy sharing leadership, Management, Agile & Teams insights. If you liked this newsletter, please pass it along.
And if someone shared this edition with you, don't forget to hit that Subscribe button before leaving.
Thanks for reading
See you next week!
- Carlos✌️
If you want to know more, follow me on LinkedIn where I post daily.
📋 Last Week Posts:
Before you go, here’s how I can help:
The Holistic Leader - Book. Join the exclusive waiting list for early access to Pioneering Strategies and Insights.
Leadership Every Day (Get my FREE ebook) Holistic Leadership and Daily Wisdom explores five key values and principles essential for exceptional leadership.
Advertise in this newsletter. (Soon)