In most Schools (Primary and Secondary) there is a notice board nailed to a tree or board. It lists rules: work hard pays, respect elders, keep the school clean, be punctual, etc.
Everyone reads it, everyone nods. Then they watch who breaks the rules and still gets favours. The notice board stays. The real culture is learned by observation.
Organisations work the same way.
Every company I have advised has values on the wall. Integrity. Excellence. Teamwork. Customer first. The words are familiar because they are safe.
Yet when you ask employees what really matters, they do not quote the values. They point to names. They say, “That one gets promoted even though everyone knows how he behaves.” Or, “If you hit the numbers, no one asks questions.”
That is the challenge I want you to sit with as a leader: if I watched your last three promotions, what culture would I learn?
This is where boards and executives often get uncomfortable. Culture feels abstract, so it is delegated to HR, surveys, and workshops. Promotion decisions, on the other hand, feel operational and urgent.
Targets must be met. Vacancies must be filled. Performance must be rewarded. And quietly, without a memo or announcement, culture is set.
The contrarian truth is simple. Culture is not shaped by what leaders say. It is shaped by what leaders reward with power, pay, and proximity.
I have seen organisations claim to value collaboration while promoting brilliant individual performers who leave chaos behind them.
I have seen companies speak about ethics while advancing people who “know how to get things done,” even when everyone knows how they do it. I have seen leaders lament toxic culture while fast-tracking the very personalities that create it.
No amount of training fixes that contradiction.
Promotions are the clearest signal an organisation sends. They answer unspoken questions employees are always asking.
What behaviour is tolerated? What behaviour is protected? What behaviour is worth copying if I want to survive here? When those answers conflict with the printed values, people do not become confused. They become fluent. They learn how the system really works.
This is why culture change programs fail. Leaders start with language and end with disappointment. They launch campaigns, town halls, and posters.
But when promotion season arrives, old habits return. The high performer who bullies is excused. The rule-bender who delivers is rewarded. The steady leader who builds teams is overlooked because their impact is less visible.
Culture listens carefully at that moment. From a governance perspective, this is not a soft issue. It is a risk issue. Promotions shape decision-making norms, risk appetite, and ethical boundaries.
They determine how bad news travels, how dissent is handled, and how shortcuts are justified. Boards that ignore promotion patterns while debating culture are inspecting smoke while ignoring fire.
Here is a practical test I use with executive teams.
Take the last five people promoted into senior roles. Write down the behaviours that made them successful, not the competencies on their appraisal forms.
Be honest. Were they rewarded for judgment or for aggression? For building systems or for heroic firefighting? For speaking up early or for fixing problems late? That list is your real culture statement.
Another truth follows. Leaders often promote in their own image. They advance people who feel familiar, loyal, and safe. Over time, this creates homogeneity. Dissent weakens. Groupthink strengthens. The organisation becomes efficient at repeating its own mistakes.
Great leaders resist this instinct. They treat promotion as a strategic act, not a reward ceremony. They ask not only, “Can this person deliver?” but also, “What behaviour will this person multiply?” They understand that every promotion is a broadcast message sent to the entire organisation.
Boards have a role here that they often underplay. Culture oversight does not mean reviewing values slides. It means interrogating succession and promotion logic. It means asking why certain people keep rising and others stall. It means challenging management when performance is used to excuse behaviour that undermines the long-term health of the institution.
If you want to change culture, do not start with workshops. Start with promotions. Freeze the ones that contradict your stated values. Slow down decisions that feel expedient. Accept short-term discomfort in exchange for long-term coherence.
Culture is not what you print. It is what you permit to rise. And everyone is watching.
I remain, Mr. Strategy
