Cameron HeroldFounder of the COO Alliance & Invest In Your Leaders Training

Why Your Head of Culture MUST Report to the CEO

9 Mar 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief segment, Cameron Herold argues that a CEO should limit core direct reports to a maximum of five to maintain focus. He emphasizes that culture must be a direct report because the CEO needs to stay attuned to the organization’s people pulse, empathy, core values, gratitude, and energy. Herold also suggests that traditional HR functions—such as compliance, policies, procedures, and vacation management—should report to finance, while the head of people/culture, who truly cares about employees, should report directly to the CEO. This structure ensures the CEO remains connected to the human side of the business while delegating administrative HR tasks elsewhere.

Chapters

I've always believed that a CEO should only have 5 core reports, but maximum, because you also have culture, the board of advisors, and legal or compliance as kind of things to think about and spend time on. So culture has to be like a direct report that you think about. I've also believed that the head of HR, like compliance policies and procedures, vacation, all that should report to finance. But the head of people, the head of giving a shit about people, the head of culture should report to the CEO. The CEO has to have the people side, the people pulse, the caring and empathy and core values and gratitude and energy has to report into the CEO.