Opinion: Carrying culture is heavy: Here’s why it’s worth the weight

Andrea Battaglia

Most culture issues don’t start with a blinding moment of emergency. They start with a subtle drift: A shortcut someone lets slide, a tone that goes unchecked, a moment when clarity was needed – but no one stepped in.

And over time, this subtle drift becomes striking dysfunction.

That is, unless someone cares enough to carry the culture back to where it belongs.

What it looks like
Carrying culture means doing the work that others often miss – but always feel. It’s invisible until it isn’t. It’s inconvenient until it’s not optional.

It’s thankless – until everything starts working better because you carried it.

You carry culture when you speak up where others stay silent, when you correct what’s drifting and when you name the gap and step in with clarity, even if no one asked you to. You carry it when you …

• Reinforce expectations others have stopped noticing.
• Coach communication instead of criticizing it.
• Redirect energy instead of ignoring misalignment.
• Notice effort early and name it out loud.
• Hold the line when it’s easier to look away.

It’s mindset. It’s modeling. It’s the small moments that shape the big ones.

Carrying culture is not glamorous, it’s not fast and it’s definitely not convenient. But it’s how your values stay visible. It’s how people learn what leadership looks like. And it’s how culture grows from something aspirational into something actual.

Why it matters
When leaders – defined, emerging or growing – carry the culture, they give others a path to follow.

It shows your team what it looks like to work with purpose, show up with clarity and contribute with care. It creates a space where people don’t just comply – they participate.

And when employees start to carry the culture, too? That’s when the real momentum starts. That’s when culture stops being a “thing leadership says” and becomes “how we work together.”

How to share the weight
You don’t have to carry the culture alone, and if you want it to last, you shouldn’t.

Here’s how to start sharing the load – without lowering the standard:

• Name your culture carriers. Notice who’s reinforcing expectations, modeling values or redirecting behavior – and tell them. Let them know it matters.
• Create opportunities for ownership. Invite others to lead a meeting, mentor a teammate or facilitate a cultural moment. Culture grows through participation.
• Ask: “Can you own this with me?” It’s a small phrase that opens a big door. Culture sticks when it’s shared.
• Let others handle the hard stuff. Don’t shield your team from difficult conversations – equip them to lead them.
• Celebrate small wins. Don’t wait for perfection. When someone gets it right – even just a little – say it out loud.

I’ve been in workplaces where no one cared what you thought, where the culture was all talk – until someone disagreed or didn’t fit the mold.

I’ve also seen what happens when culture is built with intention, when people carry it – not just say it – and when clarity is lived, not just laminated.

And I’ve learned this: Culture isn’t built by statements. It’s built by behavior. It shows up in how we speak, how we lead, how we listen and how we recover when we get it wrong.

Real culture lives in the daily choices, and the people who carry it shape what comes next.

If you’re carrying it
You’re not wrong to feel the weight. You’re not failing because it’s hard. You’re not alone – though it often feels like it. Keep going, keep reinforcing and keep aligning.

Because the culture you carry today may be the reason someone else rises tomorrow.

Andrea Battaglia is the chief excellence officer at Abacus in Springfield. She can be reached at abattaglia@abacuspro.com.