Culture-first leadership doesn't mean 'soft' leadership

Culture-first leadership is often misunderstood. 

Culture-first leadership is often spoken about as a softer alternative to commercial discipline - as though leaders must choose between empathy and performance.

After nearly three decades of building and leading a consulting business, I've learned the opposite is true. 

Culture-first leadership only works when it's paired with clear accountability, financial responsibility and the willingness to make hard decisions. The organisations that endure are not the ones that choose between culture and performance. They are led by people willing to hold both.

Culture requires standards

Over the years, people have wrongly assumed that just because I pursue a culture-first model of leadership, I'm less concerned with results.

In fact, I care about results because I care about people. My employees' livelihood depends on the success of the organisation, and our ability to innovate and deliver has a direct impact on the outcomes we deliver for our clients. 

Culture also fails when the bar isn't high.

High performers thrive in environments where standards are clear and effort is recognised - and they become deeply frustrated in organisations that tolerate underperformance.

I know this well. It was one of the catalysts for starting my own business alongside my co-founder, and now husband, Gavin. We were both high performers, and we wanted to build a team that we genuinely wanted to work with - one grounded in shared expectations, mutual respect and meaningful contribution.

Caring about people includes being honest about expectations. Avoiding hard conversations doesn't make a culture kinder. Eventually, it harms everyone. 

Culture requires discipline

Culture-first leadership doesn't remove the need for commercial discipline - it heightens it.

You must continue to evolve your team's capabilities and grow your organisation in line with the pace of growth in your industry. That requires being commercially-astute about revenue, profitability and investment - and being prepared to make decisions that aren't always comfortable. 

It's not an either/or situation. You can have employees who feel valued and supported, while also making tough calls. You can't simply "all hold hands and be happy". You need to pay people, invest in innovation and build for the future - and you can't do it with empty pockets.

As a leader, you carry real responsibility. In my case, that responsibility extends to more than 170 employees and their families. That's not something to be taken lightly. Leadership requires being a responsible adult - making difficult decisions, having hard conversations, and staying accountable - while still leading with empathy and heart. 

Culture requires credibility

People follow leaders who deliver results. Long-term client relationships - including clients who take you with them as they move between organisations - are the proof point.

We build credibility by really taking the time to truly understand our clients, their industries and their challenges. Many come to us after investing years - and significant budgets - into data and technology programs that haven't delivered the outcomes they expected. When we step in and achieve measurable results within months, it demonstrates what deep expertise, accountability and focus can deliver.

Credibility also comes from humility. Culture-first leadership means being willing to learn alongside your clients, rather than simply selling to them. When trust is built that way, it compounds - which is why many of our clients become long-term partners and advocates and why many of our employees stay with us long enough to earn long service leave. 

Why this matters 

You may wonder why I chose to write about leadership for International Women's Day.

Over the decades I've encountered plenty of surface-level assumptions about what leadership should look like - particularly earlier in my career, when I was often mistaken for the person there to take notes rather than make decisions.

While things have improved, leadership stereotypes still linger. I often tell my children that life rewards people who step beyond the boxes that already exist. Leadership is no different - it also requires bravery to lead in ways that may not always conform to expectations.