Personal Character is the Foundation of Your Company's Culture
Updated: Mar 18
What’s the one thing that could make or break your company culture? It’s not flexible work policies, free snacks, or even the coolest office design. It’s personal character.
Donald Miller has a great quote in his book, Business Made Simple. "No core competency can overcome bad character. If we don't have good character, we are going to fail in business and in life."
Integrity, resilience, and empathy are more than just buzzwords—they’re the backbone of cultures where employees thrive, customers feel valued, and leaders inspire trust. For small business owners, personal character starts with you and echoes throughout your organization. It shapes your team’s values, morale, and the way they operate in times of success and adversity.
However, fostering personal character in today’s workplace, especially amid the constraints of a small business, comes with unique challenges. Add the complexities of remote work, rapid growth, and the push for operational efficiency, and the task might feel daunting. But here’s the truth—businesses with strong character-driven cultures don’t just survive. They outperform their competition.
Why Personal Character is the Game-Changer for Company Culture
Studies consistently show that businesses with positive cultures report higher profitability, better employee engagement, and stronger retention rates. And it goes beyond the numbers. Employees whose personal values align with their company’s are more satisfied, productive, and less likely to leave.
Small businesses, though often constrained by resources, have an edge here. They can nurture personal character and culture from the ground up without the red tape that larger corporations face. However, maintaining this culture as your business grows requires intentional effort and clear values.
The Challenges of Building a Character-Driven Culture
Balancing Efficiency with Character
It can be tempting to prioritize operational efficiency over fostering traits like empathy or integrity, especially in a competitive market. But this is a short-term mindset. Character drives better teamwork, decision-making, and customer experience, ultimately improving productivity.
Remote Work & Decentralized Teams
The rise of remote work has tested many businesses’ ability to maintain cohesive cultures. Without daily in-person interactions, many employees feel disconnected or unsure how their work aligns with company values. Maintaining a shared sense of purpose and connection requires new strategies.
Misalignment of Leadership and Stated Values
If leaders fail to embody the values they preach, employees won’t buy in. It’s crucial to walk the talk and create accountability across all levels of leadership.
The Misconception of “Soft” Skills
No....personal character and culture aren’t “soft” or optional aspects of business. They deliver results. Demonstrating the ROI of these values is critical for shifting outdated perceptions.
Overcoming the Challenges & Leading with Character
To create a culture rooted in personal character while facing these obstacles, small business owners can adopt these strategies:
Start with Leadership
Your business reflects you. Be the role model for integrity, empathy, and resilience. A team that sees values enacted from the top will naturally follow suit.
Example: Guinness Brewery exemplified integrity and care in their leadership. From paying employees above-average wages to offering free healthcare as early as 1870, Guinness showed that fostering employee welfare rooted in character pays off.
Make Core Values Actionable
Values like resilience or empathy sound great, but they’re meaningless without specific actions to back them. Bake these values into your company processes, from hiring to performance evaluations.
Pro Tip: Add interview questions that screen for integrity or adaptability. Reward employees who demonstrate resilience by celebrating how they overcome obstacles.
Cultivate Continuity in Remote Work
If remote or hybrid work is part of your structure, ensure your company’s values are just as present outside the office.
Establish virtual rituals, like weekly check-ins that focus on employees’ well-being, not just project updates.
Use communication platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams not just for work but to build camaraderie with channels for shared interests.
Showcase the Impact of Values
Shift the narrative around character being a “soft” concept. Track and share real-world results that come from a strong, character-driven culture. For instance, improved employee retention, happier clients, and a more innovative team are direct outcomes worth documenting.
Insight: Pioneering campaigns like Guinness’s "Made of More" show that emphasizing values such as resilience and integrity can resonate deeply with audiences. For every £1 spent on the campaign, the brand saw a £3.88 return.
Navigate Growth with Purpose
Rapid growth can dilute a company’s founding culture. Anticipate this by codifying your culture in writing. Document your values and decide how they’ll guide hiring, decision-making, and expansion strategies.
Pro Tip: Commit to quarterly meetings dedicated to evaluating whether your actions reflect your stated values.
Celebrate Wins and Lessons
Practice resilience by normalizing “failures” as part of growth. For every mistake or setback, foster a solution-driven mindset that motivates employees rather than discourages them.
The Final Word
I grew up in the construction industry, and there was one thing that you could not compromise on. No matter what you build, it must have a strong foundation. Personal character is and always will be the foundation of your company culture. Without it, you will not be able to build a strong company, and you will not be able to build a company that will last.
Building a business with a character-driven culture isn’t just about making work a “nice” place. It’s about creating a community where employees can thrive, where business decisions are ethical and sustainable, and where customers feel like more than a transaction.
For small business owners, your leadership shapes the foundation. You will have to be strong, and courageous enough to look in the mirror at your shortcomings as a leader.
Start with simple actions—follow through on commitments, prioritize empathy in your interactions, and take setbacks as opportunities to showcase resilience. Through these efforts, you’ll cultivate a culture that lasts, grows, and outperforms competitors over the long haul.
Listen to The Pursuit of Value Podcast
Want to explore more actionable strategies for improving your company culture? Tune into The Pursuit of Value Podcast. Learn how small businesses like yours
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