One of the most common mistakes we see with our clients is the tendency to want to change others before changing yourself. Leaders will launch new values, reorganize teams, and roll out engagement initiatives, but if their own beliefs and behaviors do not match what they are asking of others, the culture does not change. People see the disconnect. They feel it. And it erodes trust before anything new can take root.
Where we’ve seen remarkable results is where leaders take accountability for walking the walk before talking the talk. We saw this at Hormel, a $16 billion global company with around 20,000 employees. Like many organizations that grow through acquisitions, Hormel had plenty of microcultures and leadership styles. The culture in one division might feel completely different from the culture in another. Then one manager stepped in who did something extraordinary. He read The Oz Principle, a book written by the founders of our firm and he applied the principles of personal accountability to his life. He lived it. Then he brought those same principles to his division, embedding accountability into daily operations.
Jim Snee, who was not yet CEO at the time, noticed what was happening. It was not just that the numbers improved. The culture improved. People showed up differently. They took ownership, they supported one another, and they worked toward a shared vision.
When Snee became CEO in 2016, he remembered that transformation. He recognized that what started in one division could inspire the entire company. He made the decision to unify Hormel under a single set of Cultural Beliefs. Suddenly, 20,000 people were speaking the same language, grounded in a culture of accountability and performance.
It all started with one person who chose to change himself first.
I am about to give you an exclusive sneak peek into my upcoming book Surrender to Lead. In it, Joe Terry and I introduce the Personal Results Equation. It is a framework designed to help you align your purpose, vision, results, personal drivers, and core beliefs so that your leadership starts from within. When you live it personally, you have the clarity, credibility, and conviction to lead it effectively.
The Personal Results Equation looks simple:
Purpose + Drivers + Beliefs = Results
To understand yourself and what moves you, you need to ask yourself each of the following questions:
- Purpose: What is my life’s purpose?
- Vision: Where do I want to be in five years?
- Key Results: What three results am I pursuing this year?
- Personal Drivers: What three drivers will get me there?
- Core Beliefs: What three core beliefs must I live by to stay aligned and accountable to my five year vision?
This is your Personal Results Equation. it is not a worksheet, it is a mirror. And until you can look into it and see yourself clearly, you woln’t be able to lead others to do the same. So before you bring this framework to your team, bring it into your own life. Define your Personal Results Equation. Write it down. Revisit it weekly. Let it become your compass.
Here’s mine:
Purpose: To serve God and others
Vision: Have ten years sober on December 11, 2030
Key Results:
- Do girl chat with Ellie every night we are together
- Impact five million lives with the power of surrender
- Finish another year sober
Personal Drivers:
- Spiritual
- Physical
- Service
Core Beliefs:
- Serve: I aim to be useful
- Love: I choose love over fear
- Surrender: I am a vehicle for God’s will, not my will
This is printed on my desk. I revisit it regularly to see if I’ve veered off track. When you do this work for yourself, you will see the connection between your inner alignment and your outer impact. You will start noticing where your daily actions are in harmony with your purpose and where they are not. You will see how small belief shifts can have a profound effect on your leadership.
The truth is you cannot lead a culture you do not live. If you want to change the results of your organization, start with the results in your own life. Align your purpose, your vision, your beliefs, and your actions. Then invite others to join you.
That is where culture change begins. And it begins with you.
Elsewhere in Culture
https://www.businessinsider.com/att-ceo-memo-workplace-loyalty-dead-employees-job-security-2025-8
AT&T’s latest memo did not shock me. In fact, I appreciate the honesty. What John Stankey put into writing is what many CEOs already believe but will not say out loud. Years ago, I wrote an ebook on why employee loyalty is dead. It is dead in both directions. Companies have long stopped operating like they will take care of you for life, and employees have stopped acting like they will stay forever. Stankey is simply calling a spade a spade.
The real question is what you do after you tell the truth. Saying loyalty is not the foundation anymore is one thing. Designing a culture that drives capability, contribution, and commitment is another. This is where many leaders fall short. You cannot demand those things without building systems that make it possible for people to deliver on them. And while I do not agree with every element of AT&T’s return-to-office mandate, I do think employees deserve clarity about the type of culture they are choosing to work in. If you value results, alignment, and transparency, the culture you build should prove it every single day.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/08/11/mothers-leaving-workforce-large-numbers
The news that working mothers are leaving the workforce in large numbers should be a wake-up call for leaders. This is not simply a workforce participation statistic. It is a reflection of culture. When companies enforce rigid return-to-office mandates without addressing the realities of caregiving and rising childcare costs, they are sending a clear message about what they value—and what they don’t. Culture is built on the beliefs that guide decisions and behaviors. If the belief is that productivity only happens in a cubicle, then the resulting actions will alienate the very talent companies cannot afford to lose.
A healthy culture does more than demand performance. It creates the conditions where performance can happen consistently over time. That means aligning workplace expectations with the diverse realities of the people who power the business. Flexibility is not a perk. It is a strategic choice that communicates trust, respect, and inclusion. When leaders fail to see that connection, they risk creating a culture where the most committed employees are forced to walk away—not because they lack capability, but because the culture refuses to make room for their lives.