Cameron Herold argues that company culture is driven primarily by four strategic elements — a vivid vision, a small set of core values (max five), a clear core purpose, and a BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) — and that the physical office accounts for only a small portion (roughly 5–15%) of culture. He explains each element, gives examples (Apple, Microsoft, Nike, Boeing), and ties these elements to hiring, firing, leadership behaviors, and company alignment.
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My core purpose is to help entrepreneurs make their dreams happen. Everything I do is aligned with helping entrepreneurs make their dreams happen. Company culture has not changed as much as we think it has. People think company culture has changed drastically now post Covid because we don't go into offices as much or we have remote or hybrid teams. But here's the thing. Being a part of an amazing company culture only the physical office space was probably accounting for maybe 5 or 10 or 15% of of the entire picture. Here's where culture actually comes from. Number one, culture comes from being aligned with a vivid vision. That's the one reason why my book Vivid Vision has blown up on Amazon with over a thousand five star reviews already is Companies understand that having this four or five page written description of what their company looks like, acts like and feels like in the future completely aligns every employee, every potential employee, every supplier, every customer and has everybody driving in that same vision. That's the number one way where a company actually grows their company culture. Number two, an obsession and alignment with your company's core values. A company should only have a maximum of five core values. Not six, not eight, not 10. The reality is if you have more than five, some of those are merely aspirational values, not necessarily core. My definition of a core value is you have to be willing to fire people who break them. They should be short, easy to understand phrases that need no explanation whatsoever. You can have sub bullet points as to how to demonstrate them in a company, but the core value when you read it should be very, very clear, like deliver what you promise doesn't need any explanation. We understand that. Or respect the individual. I understand that the only time I've ever let a company have a single word was a company that I coached from 40 people up to about 600, Bluegrace Logistics. They had a single word of one of their five core values and the single word was simplify. And I'm like damn, that's really good. So be very careful with the core values you choose because you have to now start firing people who are breaking the core values. You need to start recruiting people into your company who live the core values. And you need to make sure that internally the leadership team and management team is obsessed with thanking people and demonstrating core values and celebrating the core values and really making decisions based on the core values. So that's number two. Number the third way that you build a company culture is the drive towards your company's core purpose. It allows you to say no to all the things that aren't really core and tied to exactly what you should be focusing on. My core purpose is to help entrepreneurs make their dreams happen. Everything I do is aligned with helping entrepreneurs make their dreams happen. My COO alliance. If I grow the coos, that helps the entrepreneurs make their dreams happen. When people book me to do speaking events, it's always to groups of entrepreneurs. It's to help them make their dreams happen. My six books help entrepreneurs. My Second Command podcast helps entrepreneurs and COOs grow the CEOs company. My Invest in your leaders course is all giving the skills to managers and leaders so that they can grow their company for their CEO. Everything I do, my individual coaching, my group coaching, it's all aligned with my core purpose. So that's where culture comes from is the alignment with your core purpose, your core values, your vivid vision and last corner. If we think of this like a jigsaw puzzle, the last of the four corners of your jigsaw puzzle is your bhag. It's your big hairy, audacious goal. And that's where culture comes from is when a company is obsessed with a company's bhag. Apple's BHAG was to create insanely great products to challenge the status quo and change the human race. Microsoft's BHAG for years was to put a computer on every desktop. Nike's bhag back in 1972 was to crush Adidas. Boeing's BHAG was to democratize air travel. My BHAG is to replace vision statements with vivid visions worldwide. When employees are aligned with that bhag as well as the core purpose, the core values and the vivid vision, that's when culture gets locked and loaded. And that's why having a physical office space is only 5 to 15% of where a company culture really starts. So don't stop now. Click here. There's more great videos that you can keep learning from and together we're unlocking a amazing leadership lessons together.
