There are moments in every leader’s career when the best thing you can do is get out of the way and let the culture speak for itself.
I recently had one of those moments at Colorado Uplift’s groundbreaking. The Uplift team asked me to make a few remarks, so I knew what I wanted to say. Before I was about to speak, looking out at 150 people who had shown up because they believed in the organization and the mission that CEO Joe Sanders and his team had been building, I felt inspired.
And it occurred to me that Joe hadn’t called out his signature chant—”One team! One fight!” It was one he’s led many times before since he joined the organization. The moment felt like it was ripe for it, so about thirty seconds before I stepped toward the lectern, I decided to lead my remarks with Joe’s chant.
“One team!” I called out. And everyone called back, “One fight!” We did it three times. Joe had tears in his eyes.
I didn’t plan it. But I’ve been thinking about it ever since, because Joe created what we all felt in that moment: a culture of belonging. And belonging, it turns out, is one of the most powerful forces a leader can either create—or squander.
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Harvard Business Review published research by Coqual, which found that employees who feel like they belong are 3.5 times more likely to contribute to their fullest potential. What’s more, companies see better job performance, lower turnover risk, and fewer sick days.
While Joe’s chant may at first glance seem like a passing nicety, it’s actually symbolic of a deeper commitment to culture. Don’t underestimate the power of rituals. Unifying language is about honoring one another and amplifying what the culture is focused on—working together toward a higher purpose.
There’s something else worth noting about a chant like Joe’s. The moment a leader’s refrain becomes familiar enough that others feel moved to echo it, something important has happened.
The culture crosses a threshold. It no longer needs the leader to sustain or own it. Anyone can start it. I happened to be the one standing at the front. But the reason the chant landed the way it did wasn’t because I said it. It was because every person there already knew it, already believed it, and was just waiting for someone to give them permission to say it together.
That’s what a unifying culture does. It connects people to each other. What might be a simple ritual you can start in your organization that catches on and reminds people that they belong to a collective and something greater than themselves?
