You ever walk into a room and just feel it? No one says anything. No arguments. No drama. But something’s… off. That’s culture.

Peter Drucker said it well: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” And he was right. But what most leaders miss is this: Culture isn’t what you say—it’s what you do consistently and what you allow regularly. That means your culture doesn’t live in your handbook—it lives in your hallways. Not in your declarations, but in your defaults.

So the question isn’t just, What are we building?
The real question is, Who are we becoming?

The Four Culture Archetypes™

Every organization has a culture. The only question is whether you built it on purpose—or let it happen by accident. Over the years, working with churches, companies, and nonprofits, I’ve seen four clear patterns emerge. I call them the Four Culture Archetypes™, and they help you name where you are—and what it takes to grow into the culture you want to be.

➡️ Want to find out where your team stands? Take the free Culture Archetype Assessment—a powerful tool to reveal your current culture and where it needs to grow.

Dysfunctional Culture

This is the basement.

It’s toxic. It’s territorial. And there’s almost no trust. In a dysfunctional culture, people don’t show up to thrive—they show up to survive. Departments are siloed. Communication is passive-aggressive. Leaders are avoided, not approached. You feel the tension in every meeting. The air is heavy with politics and confusion. Gossip is more common than growth.

People leave meetings more unclear than when they walked in. Decisions are questioned—not because they’re bad, but because no one trusts who’s making them.

The most dangerous part? When dysfunction goes unaddressed, your best people leave… and your worst behaviors stay.

The only way out is to rebuild trust—one courageous, consistent conversation at a time.

🎥 Watch the YouTube video on the Four Archetypes to dive deeper into what a Dysfunctional Culture feels like—and how to start repairing it today.

Diminishing Culture

This is the culture that used to be strong.

Maybe five years ago, it was electric. Vision was clear. Values were alive. But somewhere along the way, the flame faded. Now, everyone talks about “how it used to be.” The mission has grown fuzzy. Turnover is ticking up. Energy is slipping through the cracks.

Diminishing cultures are tricky because they often look functional on the surface—but underneath, morale is draining, alignment is drifting, and yesterday’s success has become today’s ceiling.

If nothing changes, that ceiling becomes your culture’s coffin.

But there’s hope. You can reignite the mission. You can recast the vision. You can remind people that the best isn’t behind you—it’s still in front of you. But it takes clarity. Passion. And leadership that doesn’t just recall the past, but reimagines the future.

➡️ Take 5 minutes with the Culture Archetype Assessment and bring your leadership team into the conversation. It’s a game-changer.

Developing Culture

This is where things get exciting.

A developing culture isn’t perfect—but it’s progressing. You can feel the momentum. There’s hunger in the team. There’s humility in the leadership. People are learning, not pretending. Feedback is welcomed, not feared. Mistakes aren’t buried—they’re mined for insight.

This team knows it’s not where it wants to be, but it also knows it’s not where it used to be.

Values are starting to show up in everyday behavior. Language is getting sticky. People are stepping up. And clarity is on the rise.

The next step? Codify what’s working. Reinforce your values through rituals, rhythms, and stories. Don’t let the growth stay organic—make it intentional. Build on what’s real.

🎥 Curious how to turn momentum into multiplication? The YouTube video breaks it down with stories, visuals, and real-life application.

Dynasty Culture

This is the goal.

A dynasty culture is one that outlives the founder. It multiplies leaders. Sustains excellence. Builds legacy. And it doesn’t crumble when one person steps away—because the values are embedded in the DNA.

In a dynasty culture, excellence is normal—not exceptional. Values aren’t just posted on the wall—they’re pulsing in every meeting, guiding every decision. The mission doesn’t stifle creativity—it fuels it. Leaders don’t just perform—they reproduce.

But dynasty cultures don’t happen by default. They are built with discipline. Sustained with alignment. Powered by a group of people who believe in something bigger than themselves.

Dynasty culture isn’t about perfection. It’s about multiplication.

➡️ Not sure if you’re there yet? Take the Culture Archetype Assessment as a team. Dynasty culture is possible—but only by design.

The 3 C’s of Culture: Clarify it. Carry it. Coach it.

Once you’ve diagnosed where your culture is, the next step is building what comes next. And for that, I use a framework that’s helped hundreds of teams take practical steps toward change. It’s called the 3 C’s of Culture: Clarify it. Carry it. Coach it.

Simple. Sticky. Powerful.

And it’s modeled by the greatest leader of all time—Jesus.

Jesus didn’t just start a movement. He started a culture. And 2,000 years later, it’s still going strong.

He clarified it. “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.”
He carried it. He knelt and washed His disciples’ feet.
He coached it. He confronted pride, corrected drift, and repeated values again and again.

🎥 Want to learn how Jesus modeled each of the 3 C’s with precision? Watch the full YouTube teaching for practical breakdowns you can apply immediately.

Clarify It

If you don’t define who you are, you’ll become something you never intended.

Winners design culture. Everyone else defaults into dysfunction.

Your values can’t just be ideas—they have to be emotional. If they don’t move you, they won’t move your team. You need conviction, not just consensus.

Clarity builds alignment. And alignment builds impact.

So here’s your check-in: If you’ve defined your core values, ask your team if they can define them too. Ask them to share a moment when they saw you, the leader, live them out.

Because if your team can’t point to your behavior, your culture is just words on a wall.

You can’t live what you don’t understand. And your team won’t carry what you haven’t clarified.

Carry It

Once you’ve clarified your culture, the next step is to carry it.

Because here’s the truth: What you model is what gets multiplied.

You are the thermostat for your team. You set the emotional tone. If you carry honor, peace, and excellence—your team will catch it. If you carry fear, cynicism, and gossip—they’ll catch that too.

What we carry, others catch. Culture is caught more than taught.

🎥 Hear the full story (yes, including the toddler and the beach meltdown) in the YouTube video. It’s hilarious—and painfully true for every leader.

Coach It

Culture doesn’t grow on its own. It drifts.

Even if you clarify it and carry it, you still have to coach it.

That means celebrating people when they live it, correcting them when they drift, and reinforcing it again and again until it becomes second nature.

If you’re vague, your team misses it. If you’re harsh, they reject it. But if you’re kind, clear, specific, and sincere—they’ll hear it, and they’ll grow.

Jesus did this, too. When His disciples argued about who was the greatest, He didn’t ignore it or explode. He coached them. Redirected them. And reminded them who they were called to be.

➡️ Want to build a coaching culture? The Culture Archetype Assessment is a great starting point for conversation—and transformation.

From Insight to Action

This isn’t just theory—it’s an invitation to build something better, starting now.

Ask yourself: What values do we think we carry… and what do we actually carry?
What have I been allowing that I need to start addressing?
What part of our culture is missing me—because I haven’t been modeling it?

Then bring it to your team. Ask them to define your core values—without checking the wall. Ask them where they’ve seen those values lived out. And where they haven’t.

Ask them what one small shift you could make this month to build a stronger culture.

🎯 Better yet, walk through the Culture Archetype Assessment as a team and reflect together. It’s fast, insightful, and brutally honest—in the best way.

Final Challenge

If you want to build a culture that multiplies leaders—not just executes tasks—here’s the roadmap:

Clarify it, because clarity creates alignment.
Carry it, because what you model gets multiplied.
Coach it, because culture is a lifestyle, not a one-time talk.

You don’t drift into great culture. You design it.
You don’t find great teams. You build them—one conversation, one correction, one celebration at a time.

So here’s your next step:

🎥 Watch the full YouTube teaching on the Four Culture Archetypes and the 3 C’s of Culture.
🎙️ Want to listen to the audio only? Check out the latest Podcast episode on Spotify.
📊 Then, take the Culture Archetype Assessment and start leading different—on purpose.