Behaviour builds culture: How core behaviours can change your course

People drive performance and culture shapes results. When it comes to running a successful organization, attracting and retaining top talent requires much more than competitive pay and benefits. Culture and overall employee experience are paramount. A strong culture of high performance, where people feel valued and appreciated, directly impacts results. And at the heart of culture lies behaviour. Put simply, culture is the behaviours that are supported, rewarded, tolerated and make people feel included.

However, many leaders mistakenly treat performance and behaviour as separate entities, excusing poor behaviour if the individual is a high performer in terms of results. This negligence can rapidly erode a company’s culture. Allowing poor behaviour to go unchecked, regardless of the individual’s role, signals to the rest of the team that such conduct is acceptable, undermining morale and productivity. For instance, a top salesperson who brings in significant revenue but is horrible to work with can poison the team environment, leading to the loss of good people. In reality, such an individual is not truly a top performer because the damage they inflict on the culture outweighs their individual financial contribution.

It’s crucial to understand that behaviour is not separate from performance; it is a critical component of it due to its impact on organisational culture. Leaders must maintain vigilance over behaviour, especially during periods of stress, pressure, challenge and change. Empathy and understanding are vital, but so is accountability. Both leaders and employees must be held accountable for their behaviour.

But you can’t hold someone accountable for poor behaviour and performance if you have not set clear expectations about what good looks like. Unfortunately, many businesses don’t have shared expectations for behaviour and communication at all. Rather, they assume how people treat each other well should be “common sense” (which is not common). On the flipside, some businesses have vague values statements that become platitudes and are hard for people to implement, or they overcomplicate matters with extensive codes of conduct that are hard to remember.

Success is in the set-up. The key is to establish core behaviours that everyone agrees to live by. This is not about top-down directives but about collaborative discussions with the team. Consider questions like: What do we want to be known for as a team? What does good behaviour look like? What do we want the experience of working together to be like and what do we need to do to make that experience a reality? How are we going to communicate and treat each other? And finally, what are our three plain-speak, practical core behaviours or ground rules for how we’re going to work together?

Core behaviours are different to values. They are simple, specific and actionable. Examples might include: Say it sooner, assume positive intent, acknowledge people, explain the why, get curious not furious, ask a better question, seek clarification, explain what “done well” looks like, ask for and accept help…

Challenge your team to come up with specific core behaviours that they commit to upholding under pressure rather than a “shopping list” of rules that no-one remembers. Choose only 3-5 behaviours and avoid corporate jargon and complex explanations. Clarity is key. As Einstein said, “The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.” Ask yourself, how would I explain this to a 10-year-old child or a mate at a barbecue on a Sunday afternoon? It’s not about dumbing it down or being patronising, it’s about using the simplest words you can to ensure the message is clear.

Once established, these agreed-upon behaviours, as voted by your team if possible, can become a team charter that everyone signs. They key is not to let them be set and forget. You need to integrate these behaviours into daily operations and reference them regularly in meetings, conversations, and when acknowledging good behaviour. Hold individuals accountable when they fall short, ensuring that these rules are lived, not just set.

Ultimately, the specific core behaviours you choose are less important than their clarity, simplicity, and direct impact on team interactions. When these behaviours are consistently upheld, they will address most conflicts and foster a culture by design, not default. It’s the old 80/20 Pareto Principle: a small number of well-chosen rules can resolve the majority of issues.

Implementing these behaviours not only helps people to keep their behaviour in check, it also simplifies leadership and onboarding new people into the team. Accountability is non-negotiable; without it, even the best-grounded rules are meaningless. The behaviours you accept, support, reward and tolerate become your culture. Establishing and maintaining clear expectations for good behaviour can change your course by improving your culture and ultimately, your organisation’s performance.

Written by Leah Mether.

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