Introduction
At Cultiv8tiv, we believe that a strong and healthy culture will increase productivity, improve financial performance, reduce absenteeism, improve staff retention and create a more resilient organisation, whilst a poor culture will always hold an organisation back from achieving its potential.
In this interview, Steve Lewis, Founder of Co‑lab People, shares his perspective on why culture sits at the heart of leadership development, how behaviour, not slogans, defines performance, and why simple, human interactions often matter more than grand strategies.
Q: Steve, tell us about Co‑lab People and the work you do.
Steve: At the core of Co‑lab People is leadership development, developing high‑performing leaders, teams and businesses. That really is the heart of what we do.
Our core market is financial services, but we also work extensively across other professional services sectors. Regardless of sector, leadership teams face the same pressures: decision‑making, accountability, collaboration and performance. Crucially, everything we do is supported by coaching – whether that’s coaching individuals, teams, or leadership groups.
Our most effective work follows a systemic model. Ideally, we engage first with the CEO or executive sponsor, then work with their leadership team through team coaching, and then cascade into senior leaders and emerging talent.
Our approach embeds leadership capability throughout the organisation, not just at the top. It creates consistency, alignment and is able to deliver sustained change.
Q: Why is coaching so central to your approach?
Steve: Coaching is the enabler of change.
I’ve seen this repeatedly, organisations invest in training or a big intervention, everyone feels good at the end of the day, and six months later nothing has changed. The missing ingredient is reflection.
Coaching creates the space for individuals to think, to reflect, and to embed learning. It removes group‑think and works at the individual level, where real behavioural change happens. We often describe it as purpose‑driven coaching – coaching that exists to create a specific, meaningful shift in behaviour.
It allows people to explore doubts, frustrations and barriers honestly, and to bridge the gap between organisational intent and day‑to‑day reality.
Q: Why do you believe culture is fundamental to leadership development?
Steve: Culture is often talked about very casually with phrases such as “the way we do things around here.” But culture is far more powerful than most leaders realise.
When a leader says, “We want to be more customer‑centric” or “We want higher performance,” that message travels through the organisation and culture acts like a cloud that distorts or amplifies it. Leaders are often surprised when their message doesn’t land as intended.
Culture determines how leadership intent is interpreted, translated and acted upon. Without understanding culture, leadership development becomes disconnected from reality.
Q: If you could correct one myth about organisational culture or leadership development, what would it be?
Steve: One of the biggest myths around culture is that it’s somehow mysterious or overly complex. In reality, while culture is complex in outcome, engaging with it doesn’t have to be.
Culture shows up in very practical ways, in how decisions are made, how problems are raised, how conflict is handled, and how leaders behave under pressure. These are all observable moments.
For me, culture is best understood as the sum of lived experiences inside an organisation. Every interaction – between a manager and a team member, between two departments, between the organisation and a customer – contributes to it.
When leaders start paying attention to those moments, culture becomes visible and workable.
Q: How do you make culture tangible rather than theoretical?
Steve: Culture isn’t posters or slogans, it’s the lived experience of work.
First‑line managers are critical. They shape culture every single day through how they manage, communicate and behave. Culture is built from millions of small interactions.
Our focus is on micro‑changes in leadership behaviour – small, deliberate shifts that fundamentally change how people experience the organisation.
Stories are one of the most powerful, and underestimated, drivers of culture.
People don’t remember policy documents, but they remember stories: who got promoted, who got rewarded, who got challenged, who left, and why.
Those stories become signals. They tell people what really matters here.
When leaders want to move culture from slogans to lived reality, they need to be deliberate about the stories they amplify, especially stories that demonstrate desired behaviours under pressure.
Q: How do behaviours shape culture in practice?
Steve: Culture is built through behaviours, micro‑behaviours, repeated every day.
It only takes one poor behaviour to destroy respect or trust, even if many positive behaviours exist. That’s why leadership behaviour matters so much.
We don’t impose behaviour lists. Instead, we work with teams to identify which behaviours will genuinely drive the culture they want – and which behaviours are undermining it.
Q: Do you think that values and behaviours are sometimes too ambitious?
Steve: Often they’re not too ambitious, they’re too vague.
Take collaboration. Many organisations list it as a value, but collaboration is driven by mutual respect and respect is one of the most commonly missing elements in organisations.
Respect is foundational. Without it, silos form, decisions escalate unnecessarily, and trust erodes. Respect may sound basic, but it unlocks performance, psychological safety and accountability.
Q: What role does psychological safety play?
Steve: Psychological safety is essential, but we don’t treat it as a standalone initiative.
We observe it in real interactions. Silence, avoidance, or lack of challenge are red flags. Over time, coaching allows us to surface these issues and intervene appropriately.
You can have a strong culture without psychological safety, but not a healthy one.
Q: You’ve spoken a lot about respect as a foundational behaviour. Why does it matter so much?
Steve: Respect is one of those words that sounds obvious, almost boring, which is exactly why it’s often overlooked.
Yet respect is the foundation for collaboration, trust and psychological safety. Without it, silos form, decisions escalate unnecessarily, and people protect themselves rather than the organisation.
What’s interesting is that respect isn’t created by grand gestures. It’s created by simple, repeatable behaviours – listening properly, responding thoughtfully, treating people fairly, and being consistent.
It’s also fragile. One disrespectful interaction can undo months of positive behaviour. That’s why leadership behaviour matters so much, leaders set the tone for what is acceptable.
Q: What are the most common cultural blind spots leaders have?
Steve: The biggest blind spot is the gap between intent and action.
Leaders believe they’ve been clear, but the message is either diluted, over‑interpreted, or inconsistently applied. Unlike command‑and‑control environments, most organisations rely on discretion, which means clarity, behaviour and follow‑through matter enormously.
Another blind spot is espoused culture versus lived culture. Organisations declare values and behaviours, but if leaders don’t demonstrate them daily, credibility disappears instantly.
Q: How should leaders respond when high performers undermine the culture?
Steve: This is one of the most difficult, and most revealing, leadership moments.
If someone delivers results but consistently violates agreed behaviours, the organisation faces a choice. Rewarding that behaviour sends a clear message that performance trumps values, and culture erodes quickly.
Conversely, addressing or exiting that individual, even when it’s uncomfortable, creates clarity and trust. People understand the boundaries. They know what’s expected.
In many organisations, those moments become cultural turning points.
Q: What’s your final reflection on culture and leadership?
Steve: Culture is created through lived experience and shared stories. Leaders shape culture not by what they say, but by what they tolerate, reward and role‑model.
When leaders move from slogans to behaviour, especially under pressure, culture becomes real. And when culture is aligned, leadership development accelerates naturally.
That’s where performance truly comes from.
Co‑lab People works with organisations to develop leaders, teams and cultures that perform, consistently and sustainably.