Culture As The Operating System
When I read this Rolling Stone article arguing that culture will be the real “celebrity” of 2026, I immediately thought:
What are the chances this actually happens in corporate America?…and
How do we create the conditions for it, especially while under considerable pressure and in a complicated political climate?
The author’s premise is simple: culture is shifting from “HR’s initiative” to a leadership operating model. In 2026, the organizations that win won’t be the ones where leaders started caring more, but the ones that are the clearest about how work gets done, how people are treated, and what gets rewarded. Being skeptical, I did a little digging.
And the signals are optimistic:
🔷 Engagement is fragile. Gallup has reported U.S. employee engagement sitting near a decade low. When engagement is low, execution and retention suffer.
🔷 Trust is a business variable. Edelman’s Trust Barometer continues to show trust expectations rising and consequences when leaders fall short.
🔷 Belonging is measurable. Research from BetterUp and others link belonging to performance, retention, and wellbeing.
🔷 Culture is publicly legible. Employer brand signals (think Glassdoor reviews + candidate experience) shape who opts in and who opts out.
Translation: culture is no longer invisible. People can see it, feel it, and increasingly compare it.
How Do Leaders Lean In?
If you’re in the C-suite or leading a function: culture shows up in what your systems consistently produce.
Here are a few plays I’m watching (and advising):
◼️ Define culture in observable behaviors.
If you’re going to say “we value transparency” then start defining what it looks like in real moments: meetings, decision-making, feedback, conflict, promotion discussions. Without the behaviors, they're just slogans.
◼️ Build systems that match your values.
Values need reinforcement. Systems make values real: how goals are set, how performance is evaluated, how work is distributed, how decisions are made, and who gets access to opportunity.
◼️ Instrument it like infrastructure.
Track what you claim to care about: manager effectiveness, internal mobility, regrettable attrition, and inclusion signals at least quarterly. If it matters, you’ll measure it. If you measure it, you can manage it.
◼️ Make managers the strategy.
Most culture breaks (or strengthens) at the manager layer. Simplify priorities. Clarify decision rights. Train managers for the moments that matter: feedback, conflict, grief, workload allocation, promotions. Culture lives in everyday choices.
◼️ Use ERGs as culture labs.
ERGs can be powerful engines for insight and innovation when they’re resourced and connected to real business problems. Give them a challenge to solve, a 90-day experiment window, and a leadership feedback loop. Then treat the learnings like operational input rather than extracurricular activity.
What This Means for Individual Contributors
You can shape culture even when not in a position of authority. Here are plays individual contributors can lean into right now:
◼️ Get clear on what the expectations are.
Ask for clarity early: success criteria, decision-makers, timelines, and what tradeoffs leadership is willing to accept. Confusion is where culture gets stressful fast.
◼️ Practice micro-behaviors that build trust.
Credit people in the room. Close loops. Make expectations explicit. Share context. These are small actions, but they change how safe and effective a team feels.
◼️ Be a culture signal, not a culture passenger.
If you notice patterns (who gets interrupted, whose work gets recognized, how conflict is handled), name them constructively. You don’t need a “culture mandate” to influence culture, but you do need consistent courage, empathy and emotional intelligence to be the difference in another’s experience.
◼️ Use communities strategically.
ERGs, communities of practice, and cross-functional networks provide access. They expand information flow, sponsorship opportunities, and learning velocity which also plays a factor in the creation of culture conducive to individual and collective success.
The 2026 question that matters most
If there’s one 2026 prediction I hope is accurate, it’s this one.
Culture will always exist. The only question is whether it’s intentional and whether it produces clarity, trust, and performance… or confusion, fear, and churn.
And in the coming years, organizations won’t just be judged by what they claim. They’ll be judged by what their people experience.