Meeting Culture Where You Want It to Move

Leading from Anywhere: How to Shape Culture Without a Title

Lingering Musings

At a recent staff retreat, someone asked a question that’s been stuck in my head ever since: what do you do when the culture isn’t what you want it to be, and it feels like a top-down issue?

It’s a fair question. Most of us, at some point, have felt swept along in “leadership’s wake.” The new initiative, shifting priorities, the canned memo about “our culture” that doesn’t quite match the day-to-day reality. When that happens, it’s easy to think: Well, nothing will change until leadership changes.

But here’s the catch: culture isn’t just what senior leaders say it is. Culture is what we do, every single day.

Culture Is Clay, Not Marble

We often imagine culture as a marble statue, chiseled years ago in some boardroom by people of privilege and now too heavy to move. If only the top would chip away differently, the whole thing would look better.

But culture is more like clay. Every meeting, email, and interaction leaves its fingerprints. Leaders may set tone and policy, but staff at every level shape the lived reality. The culture you walk into each morning isn’t carved in stone; it’s constantly being reshaped by how people treat each other and how they show up.

And that’s the opportunity: if culture is clay, then each of us has the ability to shape it. The question isn’t how do I fix what’s broken? but how do I meet culture where I want it to go?

Meeting Culture Where You Want It to Move

This is where agency comes in. Culture allows for individual agency, and that agency is both the invitation and the responsibility. Each of us can model the behaviors and actions we want to see. And when we model consistently, we enroll others--not through formal authority, but through the pull of example.

This reframing frees us from the trap of us vs. them. It’s not leadership vs. staff, executives vs. contributors. It’s a collective effort. When we approach culture as something we co-create, we reclaim mental space that might otherwise be lost to cynicism or blame. We stop asking, “Why don’t they fix it?” and start asking, “What can I do today that nudges us in the right direction?”

Want less gossip? Stop feeding the grapevine.Want more collaboration? Invite someone who’s usually left out. Want recognition to feel real? Call out invisible work when you see it. Want more calm? Model grace under pressure, even when your inbox is a dumpster fire.

These aren’t small gestures. They are seeds. And when planted consistently, they change the soil in which culture grows.

Leadership Without a Title

Here’s the thing: leadership isn’t a title. It’s not reserved for people in the big office or the extra letters on their badge. Leadership is what you bring to the table: whether you manage fifty people, one person, or no one at all.

It often looks deceptively ordinary:

• Consistency. Following through so others can rely on you.

• Curiosity. Asking the question no one else thought to ask.

• Respect. Disagreeing without making it personal.

• Visibility. Giving credit where it’s due (especially when no one else notices).

• Optimism. Choosing to move things forward instead of spiraling into cynicism.

These “ordinary” acts are actually powerful. They spread through teams, across departments, and eventually reshape the larger ecosystem.

The Myth of Waiting for “Them”

One of the easiest traps in organizational life is waiting for them--the exec team, HR, the mysterious “leadership.” The truth is: if everyone waits, nothing changes.

Culture isn’t repaired by decree. It’s built through repetition. And the repetition belongs to all of us.

When Unwanted Culture Persists Despite Your Best Efforts

Of course, there are times when you can do everything “right” like model collaboration, call out invisible work, show respect under pressure, and yet the culture still resists change.

That’s a real and painful reality in some organizations.

When this happens, it’s important to:

• Recognize what’s in your control. You can’t single-handedly rewire an entire workplace, but you can control how you show up and how you protect your energy.

• Find allies. Even in resistant environments, there are usually a few like-minded colleagues who share your vision. Build micro-cultures together. Small safe havens of healthier practice matter.

• Name the limits. Sometimes the issue truly is structural or systemic. Naming this respectfully and clearly can free you from the illusion that if you just tried harder, things would magically shift.

• Decide if you stay or go. If you’ve invested in culture-shaping and the environment still harms your well-being, it may not be about persistence. It may be about alignment. Some cultures cannot be re-molded from within, and recognizing that is its own form of leadership.

This doesn’t mean your efforts were wasted. Even in resistant organizations, your influence will have touched individuals. You’ve planted seeds, and those seeds may take root later, whether in that workplace or carried forward by colleagues into their next role.

Closing Thoughts

That retreat question mattered because it reminded me: we often underestimate the influence we already hold.

Culture is not a static place of failure; it’s a dynamic place of possibility. It is clay in our collective hands. Every interaction is a chance to model the version of culture you want to see. It doesn’t shift overnight, but it does shift.

In the end, leading from anywhere isn’t just possible, it’s how culture actually changes.