The unspoken messages that shape a culture

Great leaders understand their actions shape culture. Fewer appreciate the cultural weight of their words, not only in formal speeches, but in offhand comments - the meeting asides, the corridor conversations. These seemingly minor moments ripple through organisations, reinforcing or undermining the cultures leaders claim to want.

I’ve seen recruitment businesses invest heavily in culture change programmes with values workshops, engagement surveys, internal campaigns, only to watch a single casual remark from a senior leader undo months of work. One CEO put it to me plainly: “We’re saying all the right things about work–life balance, but people still work ridiculous hours.” He then mentioned a leader congratulating someone for replying to a client email at 11pm. Whatever the official narrative said, this told people what the organisation really valued.

The unintended signals leaders send

Leaders rarely intend to undermine their culture efforts. They simply underestimate how intensely their words - and actions - are observed and interpreted. A brief comment about a competitor becomes a strategic priority. A throwaway remark about a client becomes de facto policy.

This happens because leaders occupy positions of asymmetric attention. People don’t just hear their words; they listen for meaning, direction and clues about what truly matters. Every comment becomes data. Every question signals priority. Every reaction is read as a value judgement.

Businesses that successfully manage this dynamic recognise that leadership communication is not confined to formal announcements. It extends to every interaction where leaders reveal what they value in practice, not just in principle.

The behaviour/messaging mismatch 

Culture emerges from patterns, not promises.  When leaders say one thing but behave differently, or when their informal messaging contradicts their formal statements, people treat the behaviour as truth and the statements as noise.

This creates familiar problems. 

Leaders talk about client-centricity, but fail to recognise the value of time spent in meaningful, relationship-building conversations. They profess innovation then shut down new ideas in meetings. They talk about balance while emailing late at night, praising long hours and endurance instead of results.

Teams resolve these contradictions quickly, by assuming the informal message is the real one. This erodes credibility and stalls cultural change. And once trust is lost in leadership communication, regaining it is slow, difficult and costly.

The amplification effect

Leadership words rarely stay contained - they cascade through organisations, repeated, reaffirmed and reinforced. A leader's casual comment in a management meeting becomes "leadership direction" by the time it reaches front-line teams.

These small inconsistencies can create large-scale behavioural drift. 

Leaders who are culturally aware can of course use this amplification effect to their advantage. It’s the unscripted moments, how leaders respond when something goes wrong, what they celebrate in team meetings, what they question and what they ignore - these moments shape culture far more aggressively than any polished speech.

One of the most effective cultural shifts I’ve seen came when a business changed how it assessed consultant performance. Wanting to move from transactional selling to genuine advisory work, the leadership team shifted attention from the quantity of customer calls to the quality and depth of conversations. That adjustment elevated the standard of client interactions and drove a 35% improvement in client retention. 

The message was unmistakable, and something we really all instinctively know: substance matters more than volume.

Replace accidental messaging with intentional communication 

Recruitment businesses that successfully align leadership communication with their culture goals start by making implicit communication patterns explicit. Leaders learn to see what their casual comments actually signal, not just what they intend to communicate.

This requires structured feedback mechanisms so leaders can understand how their words land. It also requires disciplined communication habits: consistency between formal messaging and everyday interaction, clarity about what each message reinforces, and conscious alignment with stated values.

The most advanced organisations use communication stress tests. These are simple questions leaders ask themselves before significant messages or interactions:

• What will people actually hear?

• Does this reinforce or undermine our goals?

• Could this be misinterpreted as something else?

This awareness must extend to social media. What leaders post on platforms like LinkedIn is as culturally impactful internally as it is reputationally influential externally, yet many underestimate this dual effect.

Consistent leadership creates cultural momentum 

When leadership communication is consistent, authentic, and aligned with actions, it creates powerful trust that accelerates change. Teams no longer waste energy decoding mixed messages. They trust direction, engage more honestly and act with confidence. Consistency becomes a cultural multiplier. It reduces friction, speeds up decision making, and fosters more honest conversations. Resistance to change is reduced. People focus on delivering results rather than decoding mixed messages. 

By contrast, inconsistency drains energy. People become cautious and sceptical, scrambling to interpret signals instead of focusing on doing good work. 

I’ve already mentioned social media, but it’s worth reiterating that the tone and content of a leader’s posts shape internal culture just as much as external perception. 

Culture is leadership’s responsibility, every single day

Building a positive, productive recruitment business culture requires more than just good intentions and formal programmes. It demands that leaders take full accountability for every message they send. Leaders write the culture in real time, in every interaction.

In a sector where culture now determines talent attraction, retention and performance, communication discipline is not a soft skill. It is a strategic capability that differentiates firms that talk about culture from firms that actually build it.