How do we hold people accountable for culture — not just KPIs?

When leaders talk about accountability, they almost always mean performance.

Targets. KPIs. Deadlines.

But ask them how they hold people accountable for culture — and you’ll get silence, or worse, a vague nod towards “living our values.”

Let’s be honest: most organisations don’t hold people accountable for culture at all.

The uncomfortable truth

If someone misses their numbers, there’s a process.

If someone undermines the culture, there’s usually a shrug.

And yet it’s the second behaviour that does the most damage.

Because culture isn’t shaped by what leaders say they value — it’s shaped by what they tolerate.

The real test

Imagine two employees.

• One delivers outstanding results but leaves a trail of bruised colleagues.

• The other consistently models collaboration, respect, and initiative — but sometimes falls short on targets.

Who gets promoted?

Who gets protected?

Your answers to those two questions reveal your real culture.

Why this matters

You can’t have accountability for results without accountability for behaviour.

Because culture is behaviour.

And when people see poor behaviour rewarded or ignored, they draw their own conclusions — the kind that quietly rewrite your Values statements into UGRs (Unwritten Ground Rules) like:

“Around here, results matter more than how you get them.”

“As long as you’re busy, no one asks hard questions.”

Those UGRs become the real operating system of the organisation — and once they’re in place, good luck changing anything.

What leaders can do

• Name the behaviours that define your culture.

Don’t hide behind vague values like “integrity” or “respect.” Spell out what they look like in action.

• Make them visible in performance discussions.

Treat cultural impact as a standing agenda item — not a footnote after the KPIs.

• Surface the prevailing UGRs.

We CAN surface the prevailing UGRs to find out where efforts need to be directed to improve the culture (reach out to chat if you'd like!)

• Reward people who model the desired culture — loudly.

Quiet role models don’t change systems. Publicly celebrate those who embody your aspirational culture.

• Confront cultural breaches — quickly and proportionately.

Not every issue needs a formal process, but every one needs a response. Silence is endorsement.

• Model it yourself.

Your own UGRs — the signals you send in meetings, decisions, and reactions — are the loudest accountability mechanism of all.

The bottom line

Culture is the sum of what leaders reward, ignore, and tolerate.

If you only hold people accountable for results, you’ll get results — at any cost.

If you hold them accountable for how those results are achieved, you’ll get both performance and integrity.

And that’s not soft leadership.

That’s the hard edge of culture.