Company culture doesn’t start with a memo It starts with the leader’s habits I w
By Steven Pope · May 24, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Company culture doesn’t start with a memo
It starts with the leader’s habits
I wanted My Amazon Guy to care about fitness
But there was a problem
You can’t ask a team to change
if you’re not willing to go first
So I did the uncomfortable thing
I hit the gym
Walked more
Got a dog to force myself outside
Started lifting
Ran blood tests
Fixed what was holding me back
Ate more protein
Dropped from 228 to 177 pounds
And then something interesting happened
The company started changing too
The most active Slack channel became the health channel
People started sharing workouts
Struggles
Wins
Blood tests
Doctor visits
Push-up challenges
Weight loss progress
Quitting smoking
Some lost 40 pounds
Some lost hundreds
12 people quit smoking
That’s the real lesson
Culture isn’t what you announce
Culture is what people see you live
I’ve seen this happen over and over
teams don’t follow slogans
they follow examples
When the leader changes
The permission structure changes for everyone else
That’s how culture actually gets built
One visible habit at a time