By Colin Wright - Uspire Chair
A passionate coach and mentor, Colin has a belief that knowledge and experience should be shared to enhance the lives and success of others.
Colin is a former Managing Director of Vodafone, Caudwell Group, Greencore and Hazelwood Foods.
My journey through four distinct organisational cultures has shaped my understanding of what truly drives performance, innovation, and resilience in business. Each chapter offered a different lens on leadership, values, and the invisible cultural forces that shape behaviour.
At Rolls-Royce, I stepped into an environment of world-class engineering, a place of precision, heritage, and safety. But beneath the surface lay the constraints of a heavily unionised workforce and the cultural drag of having once been under government ownership. In that system, the country had paid the bills, and urgency was too often a casualty of bureaucracy. Excellence thrived in spite of the system, not because of it.
In stark contrast, Hazlewood Foods, pulsed with entrepreneurial energy. It was a company constantly reinventing itself in pursuit of the next big food trend. Innovation and agility were the norm, and the culture celebrated risk-taking, quick decisions, and opportunistic growth. It was a place where being nimble was more valuable than being perfect.
Then came Caudwell, an organisation where intensity defined the atmosphere. The culture was unambiguously high-performance and high-reward, or else. Everything was transactional, everything was urgent, and the currency was competition. Success was measured in immediate results, and the relentless focus was on outmanoeuvring everyone else in the market.
At Vodafone, I witnessed a different kind of cultural force: scale. Under CEO, Chris Gent, the company was driven by bold ambition, aggressive acquisition, and a razor-sharp focus on growth and customer service. Gent’s leadership was uncompromising and galvanising, uniting the business behind a clear goal of global dominance through sheer force of will and strategic execution.
But it was his successor, Arun Sarin, who stands out as the finest leader I’ve ever encountered. With humility and vision, Sarin assessed both the triumphs and the shortcomings of Gent’s fiercely aggressive expansion strategy. He didn’t seek to undo the past, he embraced it, learned from it, and built upon it. Sarin consolidated and enhanced the organisation, guiding it onto a pathway of sustainable growth and global presence, ambitious, but never at all costs. He brought balance to the business a vision without hubris, pace with perspective, and growth underpinned by purpose.
More recently, working with smaller, entrepreneurial enterprises, I’ve gained a renewed appreciation for the grit and discipline it takes to build high-performing cultures without the cushion of scale. In particular, I’ve admired the determination, attention to detail, and relentless work ethic of the Kiddycloud Managing Director, who has created a performance-driven culture that squeezes maximum value from every pound of sale. With limited resources, the focus on commercial return, operational efficiency, and cultural alignment is uncompromising, proving that excellence can be engineered just as powerfully in a lean, agile team as in a global corporate.
Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution.”
Aristotle
Each of these environments taught me something different about what culture is and what it isn’t. Some were shaped by legacy, others by opportunity or extraordinary leadership. But all revealed a simple truth and that is culture is not a soft topic. It is the hard engine behind everything a business achieves or fails to achieve.
This thought piece explores what it takes to build, sustain, and evolve high-performing cultures, drawing from powerful frameworks like The Culture Code, The Fearless Organisation, Kotter and Heskett’s extensive research, the leadership philosophy of John Wooden, and the lived realities of organisational life.
It also introduces the thinking of Jamil Quershi the keynote speaker at our next Uspire Live event in May.
Jamil Qureshi’s contributions to high-performance culture are rooted in a profound understanding of psychology and human behaviour. His holistic approach, which intertwines mindset, responsibility, adaptability, leadership, relationships, and creativity, offers a comprehensive framework for individuals and organisations aiming to excel. By embracing these principles, leaders can cultivate environments where high performance is not just an aspiration but a consistent reality. His work in sports psychology is outstanding, creating a high-performance mindset that also builds great teams.
So what is organisational culture?
Organisational culture most often refers to the set of shared values, beliefs, norms, and practices that shape the behaviour and attitudes of people within an organisation. It encompasses the organisation’s vision, values, traditions, working style, and the overall environment. Organisational culture is often seen as the personality of the organisation, influencing how employees interact with each other, make decisions, approach their work, and perceive their roles within the organisation.
Key components of organisational culture include:-
1. Values and Beliefs: The core principles and standards that guide the organisation’s actions and decision-making processes.
2. Norms and Practices: The unwritten rules and daily routines that influence how things are done within the organisation.
3. Symbols and Artifacts: Physical manifestations of culture, such as office design, dress code, and company logos.
4. Rituals and Traditions: Regular events, ceremonies, or practices that reinforce the culture, such as team-building activities or annual celebrations.
5. Leadership Style: The way leaders interact with employees, make decisions, and communicate, which sets the tone for the rest of the organisation.
6. Communication Patterns: How information flows within the organisation, including openness, transparency, and feedback mechanisms.
7. Work Environment: The overall atmosphere of the workplace, including the level of collaboration, competition, and innovation encouraged.
A strong organisational culture aligns with the organisation’s goals and strategies, helping to motivate employees, foster teamwork, and drive success. Conversely, a weak or misaligned culture can lead to misunderstandings, low morale, and hindered performance.
Exploring some of my favourite books on these principles
The Fearless Organisation by Amy Edmondson is a foundational book for anyone seeking to create a workplace culture where people feel safe to speak up, share ideas, admit mistakes, and challenge the status quo. At its heart, the book is a deep dive into the concept of psychological safety, the shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking and its critical role in driving organisational performance, innovation, and learning.
Drawing on two decades of research and real-world case studies, Edmondson argues that psychological safety isn’t a “nice to have” soft skill; it is a strategic imperative. In a world where organisations must constantly adapt to fast-moving change, success depends on employees’ ability to collaborate, share knowledge, and continuously improve. Without psychological safety, these behaviours are stifled, and companies risk stagnation or failure.
The book breaks down psychological safety into tangible elements and provides leaders with tools to assess and improve it. Edmondson categorises workplace environments into four quadrants based on levels of psychological safety and accountability:-
The Learning Zone (high safety, high accountability)
The Comfort Zone (high safety, low accountability)
The Anxiety Zone (low safety, high accountability), and
The Apathy Zone (low safety, low accountability).
The most effective organisations aim to operate in the Learning Zone, where people are stretched but supported, and where failure is viewed as a stepping stone to growth.
Real world examples bring the theory to life. From Google’s Project Aristotle, an internal study that found psychological safety to be the top predictor of high-performing teams, to case studies of hospital teams, tech companies, and manufacturing environments, Edmondson illustrates how cultures that welcome candour and curiosity outperform those driven by fear or silence. Conversely, she shows how the absence of psychological safety has led to disastrous consequences, such as in the cases of the Wells Fargo scandal or the Boeing 737 Max crisis, where employees felt unable to raise concerns.
“In the best teams, members listen to one another and show sensitivity to feelings and needs.”
Google’s Project Aristotle summary
The tone of the book is both practical and empathetic. Edmondson doesn’t suggest that creating psychological safety is easy; it requires conscious leadership, consistency, and the willingness to model vulnerability. She provides actionable strategies, such as framing work as a learning problem rather than an execution problem, explicitly inviting input, and responding productively to feedback.
Ultimately, Edmondson’s work reframes workplace culture as not just about performance or values, but about emotional climate and she makes a compelling case that building a culture of psychological safety isn’t just good ethics; it’s good business.
What makes some teams click while others fall apart under pressure? Why do certain cultures become magnets for talent, innovation, and loyalty, while others struggle to survive?
In The Culture Code, author and performance expert Daniel Coyle explores the hidden dynamics that drive great group culture. Based on years of research across elite teams, from Pixar to Navy Seals to the San Antonio Spurs, Coyle reveals that high-performing cultures aren’t the result of perks or charisma. They’re built through small, powerful actions that foster trust, openness, and shared meaning.
The book’s central insight is that great cultures consistently practice three key skills:-
1. Build Safety
Coyle’s first pillar of culture like Edmundson is psychological safety, the sense that “you are safe here.” When people feel secure, they’re more likely to speak up, collaborate, and take creative risks. Safety doesn’t mean being nice all the time; it means people feel respected and valued enough to be themselves.
High-performing teams constantly send “belonging cues”, active listening, equal turn-taking in conversation, warm greetings, and subtle affirmations. These micro-behaviours build connection and reduce fear. Leaders play a crucial role in setting the tone, by being present, approachable, and transparent.
“A company is stronger if it is bound by love rather than by fear.”
Herb Kelleher (Founder of Southwest Airlines)
2. Share Vulnerability
Once safety is established, teams grow stronger by sharing vulnerability. Contrary to traditional ideas of leadership strength, Coyle argues that trust isn’t built through displays of power, it’s built through honest moments of weakness.
In elite teams, members openly admit mistakes, ask for help, and engage in tough feedback conversations. This creates a loop of mutual trust. Leaders go first, showing that vulnerability is not a flaw but a feature of growth. Pixar’s “braintrust” sessions, where directors share rough cuts and invite critique, are a prime example. Vulnerability isn’t just about emotional openness; it’s about building a learning environment.
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”
C.S. Lewis
3. Establish Purpose
The third key to a strong culture is clarity of purpose. High-performing groups don’t just state their mission once, they reinforce it constantly through language, symbols, and rituals.
Coyle notes that in great cultures, purpose is embedded in everything from onboarding to daily meetings. It’s reflected in how decisions are made, how stories are told, and how success is defined. Purpose gives teams a compass, especially in moments of ambiguity or stress. It keeps people aligned, motivated, and connected to something bigger than themselves.
Why This Matters
Culture isn’t a “soft” thing. It’s a performance driver. When teams feel safe, can be vulnerable, and are united around a clear purpose, they move faster, learn quicker, and work better together.
The message of The Culture Code is clear: strong culture is not an accident, it’s a deliberate practice. And every leader, no matter the industry, can build it.
Culture lives in moments. The way you start a meeting. The story you choose to share. The silence you allow. Get those right, and everything else follows.
In Corporate Culture and Performance, John Kotter and James Heskett provide one of the most influential analyses of how corporate culture impacts long-term economic performance. Based on an 11-year research study across over 200 companies, they offer compelling evidence that adaptive, strong cultures significantly outperform those that are rigid or misaligned with the external environment. The book links cultural traits to business results, making it a foundational work in understanding the strategic value of culture.
The Core Thesis
Kotter and Heskett’s central argument is that organisational culture is not just a “soft” asset, but a critical driver of performance. They distinguish between two types of cultures: adaptive cultures, which foster innovation, openness to change, and alignment with market demands; and unadaptive cultures, which are internally focused, bureaucratic, and resistant to change. Over time, companies with adaptive cultures dramatically outperform those with unadaptive ones in metrics like revenue growth, stock price appreciation, net income, and workforce expansion.
Quantifying Culture’s Impact
The authors present striking comparative data, companies with performance enhancing cultures saw revenue increases of more than 680%, stock price growth of over 900%, and net income improvements of more than 750% over the study period, far outpacing companies without such cultures. This hard data helps elevate culture from a conceptual concern to a financial imperative.
A key insight from Kotter and Heskett is the difference between strong cultures and effective cultures. A culture may be strong (widely shared and deeply rooted) but still ineffective if it is not aligned with market realities or strategy. Conversely, a culture that is not overly dominant but highly adaptive can be more conducive to long-term success. Alignment with external strategy, they argue, is more important than internal uniformity.
Leadership is central in shaping and transforming culture. Kotter and Heskett emphasise that effective leaders don’t just manage systems, they embed and model cultural values, align behaviour with vision, and promote change where necessary. Culture change, they argue, is a long-term process that starts with leadership behaviour and is reinforced through organisational systems and practices.
The authors outline how successful companies embed adaptive cultures through recruitment, training, incentive systems, and consistent communication. They also offer a roadmap for cultural transformation, beginning with identifying cultural gaps and involving employees in articulating new values. Change efforts are more effective when tied to strategic imperatives and when leaders are visible champions of the new culture.
Corporate Culture and Performance delivers a powerful message, culture is not a luxury or a background factor, it is central to competitive advantage. For companies willing to invest in building adaptive, strategically aligned cultures, the rewards are both measurable and enduring. Kotter and Heskett show that the “soft stuff” of culture is, in fact, the hardest and most consequential determinant of performance in the long run.
Why High-Performance Culture in Sport Uses Similar Principles to Business
High-performance cultures in sport and business often mirror each other because they are both focused on sustained excellence, team cohesion, personal growth, and winning outcomes. At their core, they revolve around the same human dynamics, motivation, collaboration, leadership, feedback, and purpose. Here’s a breakdown of the shared principles:-
1. Clear Purpose and Shared Values
In elite sport, teams rally around a clear purpose, whether it’s winning a championship, representing a nation, or achieving personal bests. This mirrors business organisations like Patagonia or Salesforce, which drive performance through a mission-driven culture. In both settings, clarity of purpose sharpens focus, energises effort, and fosters loyalty.
Example: The All Blacks’ mantra “Better People Make Better All Blacks” echoes how companies like Microsoft embed purpose in everything from recruitment to performance reviews.
2. Leadership and Accountability
Top athletes thrive under coaches who demand excellence but also model it. Accountability is personal and collective. Similarly, in companies like Netflix or Amazon, leadership sets the tone and holds the bar. Individuals are expected to own their results and contribute to the team’s success.
Sport Parallel: Michael Jordan’s work ethic and accountability culture at the Chicago Bulls set a standard that lifted the entire team. In business, this resembles how Steve Jobs created an expectation of excellence at Apple.
3. Continuous Learning and Feedback
High-performance athletes are constantly reviewing tape, adjusting training, and learning from wins and losses. Businesses like Google and Toyota embed similar practices with feedback loops, retrospectives, and iterative improvement, essentially “kaizen” applied to corporate life.
Shared Principle: Fail fast, learn faster. Whether on the pitch or in a product lab, growth comes from reflection and adjustment.
4. Psychological Safety and Team Cohesion
Teams perform best when trust is high. In sport, this manifests in players backing each other, accepting constructive criticism, and performing under pressure. In high-performing companies like HubSpot or Google, psychological safety is a documented competitive advantage.
Example: Pep Guardiola’s teams emphasise emotional intelligence and psychological support as much as tactical discipline. Similarly, Google’s Project Aristotle found that psychological safety was the #1 factor behind effective teams.
5. Metrics-Driven with a Human Touch
In sport, every detail, passes completed, distance run, heart rate is tracked. But great coaches know numbers only matter if they serve development. The same applies in high-performing business cultures, KPIs are crucial, but they are interpreted in the context of human motivation and purpose.
Example: British Cycling’s “marginal gains” strategy under Dave Brailsford, focusing on continuous 1% improvements, directly parallels Amazon’s relentless pursuit of customer-centric operational gains.
Shared DNA of Excellence
Whether it’s the locker room or the boardroom, high-performance cultures are built on alignment, discipline, belief, and feedback. The language might differ, “team talks” vs “town halls,” “coaches” vs “managers”, but the principles are strikingly similar. Leaders in both arenas can learn from one another because both are fundamentally in the business of unlocking human potential at scale.
John Wooden’s Legacy: A Framework for Character-Driven Excellence in the World of Sport.
John Wooden, legendary UCLA basketball coach built more than winning teams, he built cultures defined by discipline, humility, and purpose. His philosophy, distilled in his Pyramid of Success, for those of you who watched Ted Lasso it was pinned on the wall, and it remains one of the most enduring models of high-performance culture. Wooden’s genius lay not in fiery speeches or complex systems, but in his consistent, principled approach to human development.
The Pyramid of Success: Values in Action
At the heart of Wooden’s cultural framework is his 15-block Pyramid of Success, a layered model of virtues like industriousness, enthusiasm, loyalty, and team spirit, culminating in “competitive greatness.” The foundation of the pyramid emphasises effort and joy in the process, hard work (industriousness) and love for the game (enthusiasm) were non-negotiables. These were complemented by traits like cooperation and friendship, which fostered belonging and psychological safety long before those terms were popularised.
Discipline, Care, and Consistency
Wooden’s leadership style exemplified the balance of high standards and deep care. He was famously meticulous, even beginning each season by teaching players how to properly put on their socks to avoid blisters, underscoring that greatness lives in the details. His practices were structured to the minute, and every drill had a purpose. Yet he led with calm, never raised his voice, and treated each player with dignity. Feedback was delivered quietly and constructively, reinforcing the idea that mistakes were part of growth. He created a culture where challenge and support coexisted, allowing players to thrive under pressure.
Ego-Free Teams and Purpose Beyond Winning
Wooden’s culture was selfless. There were no names on the backs of jerseys. Celebrations were subdued. What mattered was preparation, contribution, and character. He encouraged players to focus on their own effort rather than obsessing over outcomes. His definition of success was internal and the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.” This inward focus gave his teams resilience and clarity, especially in high-stakes moments.
Culture as Daily Practice
Wooden understood that culture is not created in big speeches but in daily habits. He modelled integrity, treated all with respect, and expected his players to embody the same values. His teaching maxims, such as “Be quick, but don’t hurry” and “Don’t let what you can’t do interfere with what you can”, were not just sayings; they were coaching principles that shaped behaviour. Through repetition and reinforcement, he turned character into capability.
A Timeless Leadership Model
John Wooden’s legacy endures because it’s rooted in timeless truths, that performance begins with preparation, that character drives culture, and that true leadership is about helping others become their best. His model remains a blueprint for any leader seeking to create not just successful teams, but significant and lasting cultures.
John Wooden passed away in 2010 at the age of 99, but his influence is felt across boardrooms, classrooms, and locker rooms to this day. Leaders from every walk of life, military generals, CEOs, teachers, coaches, cite his Pyramid of Success and his calm, principled leadership as a gold standard.
He once said, “Your reputation is what you’re perceived to be. Your character is what you really are.”
For Wooden, performance wasn’t about flash. It was about fundamentals. It wasn’t about outcomes, it was about integrity. His culture wasn’t built on charisma but on care, clarity, and consistency.
And that, perhaps, is the ultimate message for modern culture builders:-
You don’t need to be loud to be powerful.
You don’t need to dominate to inspire.
You need to lead with values. Live with intention. Coach with heart.
John Wooden didn’t just create winning teams. He created winning people.
Here at Uspire we focus on the principles of building individual champions or the finest leaders, embracing psychological safety but also five other key components of high-performance culture.
“True leadership lies in guiding others to success, in ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, enjoying doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well.”
Michelangelo
1. Employee Engagement and Retention
A thriving culture doesn’t start with customers, it starts with people. When leaders genuinely care for their team, they unlock the kind of discretionary effort that no compensation plan can buy. Engaged employees are not merely doing their job; they are building something they believe in. Leaders must remember that people are the engine of every great organisation, when you invest in their growth, recognise their contributions, and trust their judgment, they will become ambassadors of your culture. It’s not enough to have great strategy; your people must feel that they matter, that they belong, and that their voice is heard. Loyalty is not commanded, it’s earned through consistent, human leadership.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
African proverb
2. Clear Purpose and Values Alignment
High-performance cultures are not just built on what people do, but on why they do it. When purpose pulses through the veins of an organisation, clarity and conviction replace confusion and compliance. Great leaders articulate a compelling “why” that magnetises others and galvanises action. Values become the decision-making compass, guiding behaviour even in the absence of rules. Vision is not just painted on the walls; it’s etched in daily decisions. The organisations that win long-term are those where people don’t just align to goals, but to a meaningful cause that transcends profit. Purpose is not a poster, it’s a promise.
“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.”
Roy Disney
3. Leadership and Accountability
True leadership isn’t about control, it’s about commitment. Accountability in high-performance cultures is not enforced from the top; it is embraced throughout. Leaders model the behaviour they expect, creating a ripple effect of responsibility, ownership, and follow-through. Rather than pointing fingers, high-performing teams point toward solutions, because trust is high, and blame is low. Clarity of role, respect for standards, and the courage to call things out are the foundations of mature leadership cultures. When people know the expectations, see them upheld, and understand how their actions contribute to the bigger picture, performance becomes a shared endeavour, not a solo effort.
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”
Jim Rohn (American entrepreneur)
4. Innovation and Learning Agility
In today’s world, standing still is falling behind. High-performance cultures encourage curiosity, celebrate experimentation, and view failure as fuel for future success. The best leaders create environments where ideas can collide, evolve, and flourish, where agility is not just tolerated, but rewarded. Lifelong learning becomes a norm, not a novelty. The organisations that consistently outperform others aren’t just full of smart people, they are full of learners. Leaders in these environments ask better questions than they give answers. They create the psychological safety needed for risk-taking, and the discipline required for learning to stick. Innovation isn’t a side hustle it’s a mindset.
“An organisations ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.”
Jack Welch (former CEO of GE)
5. Business Performance
Culture isn’t soft, it’s strategic. High-performance cultures understand that results matter, and they embed measurement, focus, and execution into their DNA. But they also recognise that numbers are the outcome, not the purpose. Great leaders bring metrics to life, they tie performance to meaning, and translate ambition into action. They create simple, visible scoreboards that energise, not intimidate. They balance short-term delivery with long-term sustainability. And they know that operational excellence isn’t driven by pressure, but by passion. Culture and performance are not trade-offs, they are twin engines of enduring success. After all, what you build internally determines what you achieve externally.
“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business.”
Henry Ford
Culture Is the System, Not the Sauce
Our takeaway from some of the best leadership books, is that a clear truth emerges, culture isn’t something you have, it’s something you do. It’s not wallpaper, it’s wiring. It’s not a one-off initiative, it’s a leadership habit, baked into every meeting, decision, and conversation.
If Marquet in “Turn the Ship Around” empowers control, Edmondson unlocks voice. If Kotter proves the value, Kegan shows the path. If Laloux offers a glimpse of tomorrow, Coyle reveals the mechanics. If Wooden grounds us in virtue, Sinek brings it all back to biology.
And if there’s a single thread tying them all together, it’s this; People first. Always.
Because in the end, your culture is not your perks, policies, or mission statement. It’s how it feels to work in your organisation, on a random Tuesday. It’s what people whisper when the leader leaves the room. It’s what remains when the pressure is on, the budget is tight, or the future is uncertain.
So whether you lead a start-up, a multinational, or a public service team, the question isn’t, “Do we have a good culture?” The question is, “What are we doing today to make our culture stronger?”
Because culture isn’t a noun, it’s a verb and it’s yours to shape.
“A leader is best when people barely know they exist. When work is done, the aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”
Lao Tzu