For years, many organizations turned to culture committees with genuine hope. We supported them in that work because participation matters. People want to feel heard. Leaders want engagement to be more than a slogan. For a while, culture committees felt like progress. They brought people together, surfaced ideas, and signaled that culture was a priority. In many organizations, they created energy and connection that had never existed before.
But hope and effort do not always equal outcomes. Recently a Fortune 500 HR leader launched a culture committee and excitement spreading across the building. Twenty employees from every department. Monthly meetings. A charter. A newsletter. Six months later, she admitted the truth: all of that activity had not really moved culture at all. The team worked hard. The organization stayed the same. Committees build enthusiasm, not authority. They generate conversation often without accountability. They collect insights but rarely sit in the rooms where decisions are made and behavior is shaped.
When culture belongs to everyone, it can quietly become owned by no one. Committees meet, brainstorm, draft language, share ideas, and create communication moments. Their commitment is real. Their effort is real. Yet culture lives in decisions, priorities, consequences, and leadership behavior that committees typically cannot touch. Over time, culture becomes a group project. Planning replaces progress. Updates replace movement.
We supported committees because they offered a starting point. They helped leaders listen and gave employees a seat at the table. They created space for voices that had been overlooked. For a meaningful moment in time, participation came before accountability, and that sequence mattered.
But expectations have shifted. Employees today expect more than listening sessions and idea boxes. They expect clarity, alignment, and leaders who act in accordance with the values they champion. Culture cannot rely solely on volunteers. It belongs to leaders who own outcomes. The organizations winning right now have operationalized culture. They define expectations, measure behavior, reinforce standards consistently, and make culture a part of decision-making and performance conversations. That is where behavior changes and results follow.
This shift does not replace participation — it matures it. The most effective culture work blends employee truth-telling with leadership ownership. Employees surface reality. Leaders create the conditions where accountability, clarity, and consistency thrive. That balance builds trust and performance at the same time.
So before launching a culture committee, ask a different set of questions. Who has the authority to influence behavior across the organization? Who will reinforce expectations when they become inconvenient? Who will model standards when pressure rises?
Culture committees played their role. They helped organizations listen, learn, and begin the journey. Now the mandate is different: ownership, accountability, leadership consistency, and culture that moves the business instead of the calendar.
That is how culture grows. That is how results follow.
Elsewhere In Culture
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/28/business/amazons-layoffs-ai-nightcap
Amazon’s layoffs signal a familiar story in corporate America. A company posts extraordinary profits and still cuts thousands of jobs under the banner of agility and innovation. Leaders feel pressure to prove they are ahead of the curve, especially with AI dominating every boardroom conversation. Instead of investing in clarity, capability, and alignment, they choose headcount as the fastest lever. The short term reaction might please investors. The long term impact is a workforce that learns to brace for volatility.
AI is not replacing people at scale right now. Amazon admitted as much. These cuts are happening before the technology can deliver on the promise leaders are betting on. Companies that rush to slim down do not become more agile overnight. They become, perhaps, more fragile. The organizations that will lead in the AI era are the ones that create stability, build belief, and empower their people to innovate through change. Technology can accelerate progress, but culture determines who will withstand uncertainty and come out stronger.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/03/business/david-solomon-goldman-sachs-ai
Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon is right that the workforce has reinvented itself through every major technological shift. Adaptability is a human strength and it will matter again as AI reshapes work. Yet this moment calls for more than optimism. In Surrender to Lead, we talk about leading through uncertainty by letting go of the illusion of control and leaning into humility, presence, and continuous learning. AI demands that same mindset. Hoping people will “adapt” is not leadership. Creating clarity, investing in capability, and giving teams space to experiment and learn is leadership. Fear thrives in silence. Trust grows where leaders choose transparency and curiosity.
AI is moving faster than past innovations so the stakes are higher. Layoffs may capture headlines but the real story is what people believe about their future. When leaders hold tightly to old power structures, people brace for loss and disengage. When leaders surrender ego, communicate openly, and invite employees into the process, they create ownership and momentum. Progress begins when leaders shift from telling to teaching, from defending their position to exploring possibility. The companies that thrive in this next era will be the ones whose leaders show up with courage, humility, and a willingness to evolve alongside their people. That is how culture becomes a competitive advantage, not an afterthought.
Surrender to Lead is the book Joe Terry and I wrote to redefine what leadership really looks like. We have both seen how often leaders think strength means control, but it doesn’t. Real leadership starts when you let go. When you surrender your ego, your need to have all the answers, and your attachment to certainty, you create space for trust, accountability, and real results.
Preorders are now live. When you preorder, you’ll also receive three hundred dollars worth of exclusive leadership resources to help you apply these ideas in your own organization. Visit surrendertolead.com to preorder your copy today.