Sameera Ahmed | April 2026
We don’t experience organisations as they are. We experience them through the stories we tell.
And the ones we don’t forget.
I often think about the stories I’ve shared, and the ones shared with me.
Not the polished ones. The real ones.
Like someone once saying: “My boss is a normal guy… until he’s not.”
That’s not a throwaway comment. That’s a culture signal.
Because those stories…
are the real culture.
Not your strategy.
Not your townhalls.
Not the values on your wall.
What people say when the guard is down.
And here’s where it gets uncomfortable:
Those stories don’t stay at work.
They show up at home.
In how we describe leadership.
In how we explain fairness.
In what we teach – without realising it – about power, respect, and what is acceptable.
Our children are listening.
They are forming their own expectations of work.
Of leadership.
Of themselves.
So when people say:
“Leadership doesn’t listen.”
“People are treated differently.”
“It’s about who you know.”
That’s not noise.
That’s your culture – translated.
We measure engagement.
We track performance.
We analyse retention.
But we avoid the question that actually matters:
Do the stories your people tell at home…
align to the values on your wall?
Because culture isn’t what you announce. It’s what people experience.
- Who gets heard
- Who gets ignored
- Who belongs
- Who is tolerated
Especially when it comes to people outside the inner circle.
If your people are telling a different story at home than the one you’re presenting at work—
Believe the story.
That’s your culture!
So as leaders, the question is not whether you have values.
It’s this:
Have you taken the time to find out if the stories people are telling… actually align to them?
Not through surveys.
Not through presentations.
But by listening—when it’s uncomfortable.
By observing—when it’s inconvenient.
By paying attention to what is said when the guard is down.
Because alignment is not declared.
It’s experienced.
And if you’re not actively seeking the truth of that experience—
you’re not shaping culture.
You’re assuming it.
And those assumptions?
They don’t stay in your organisation.
They walk through your people’s front doors every day.
And they shape far more than your business.
#Leadership #Culture #Inclusion #EmployeeExperience #OrganisationalCulture #PinnacleHR