When first stepping into an organization, it is not uncommon for a newly hired CEO to see significant opportunities to evolve the company’s culture in a different direction. Leading a full cultural overhaul, of course, is a high-stakes move that demands a certain level of trust, the right timing and a thoughtful strategy.
To manage resistance and ensure a lasting impact, it’s critical for a new chief executive to start with a foundation of listening, reflection and alignment before making large organizational changes. Below, 15 Forbes Coaches Council members share essential first steps, tips and key factors a new CEO will want to consider before initiating a companywide cultural transformation.
1. Understand Why You Want To Overhaul The Culture
Before launching a cultural reset, it’s important for the new CEO to reflect on why they want to lead an overhaul. Is it the result of an M&A, poor performance or substandard engagement survey results, or is it driven by the CEO’s own interests or biases? If it’s the latter, there are ways to drive impact and performance without unnecessarily disrupting company culture. - Jaclynn Robinson, Nine Muses Consulting, LLC
2. Take A Bottom-Up Approach To Gathering Feedback
Assuming you’ve already figured out the “why,” start with feedback, anonymous surveys, listening circles and one-on-ones with leaders and employees. A bottom-up approach can sometimes reveal gaps in how cultural issues are experienced on the ground and perceived at the top. Understanding both sides equips the CEO to lead a cultural reset that’s grounded, inclusive and truly transformative. - Kiran Mann, M2M Business Solutions Inc.
3. Seek To Realign Rather Than Reset
Instead of resetting the company’s culture, realign it to fit your new strategy. That’s less disruptive and more potent. Start by talking with employees, customers and suppliers. Ask about their beliefs and values, plus the norms and practices they use to work. Review this data against the strategy and performance. What’s in alignment and what’s out? Reinforce what’s in. Start to alter what’s out. - Liz Guthridge, Connect Consulting Group
4. Ensure You Have The Right People On Board
Before launching a cultural overhaul, a new CEO must make sure they have the “right people on the bus.” I worked with a wise hospital CEO who patiently spent 12 months overhauling his executive team before launching a culture change program. This first step ensured the top team members were role-modeling the values and behaviors of the target culture—a powerful lever of organizational change. - Dr. John Blakey, John Blakey Ltd
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5. Identify And Engage Unofficial Influencers
Before launching a companywide cultural reset, listening tours and observation are key to understanding the current culture: what works and what doesn’t. One key to success will be to identify the unofficial influencers across the ranks and ensure that they will be champions of a new culture. Without their buy-in, a new culture will never be successfully implemented. - Laura Vanderberg, Newton Services
6. Align Culture With Strategy, Not Perks
Culture is not about the “warm and fuzzies,” cafeterias or gourmet food. It is the nuts and bolts of how we work together to get things done. Culture needs to deliver on the strategy. Building a culture without aligning it to strategy is like building an engine and forgetting what it is for—and then wondering why it doesn’t work! Culture is the power to convert strategy into results. - Shahana Banerjee, Just Human Not Resources LLC
7. Keep What’s Working And Build From There
Understand that cultural overhaul is a process that takes time. Identify what is currently good about the culture to keep. Acknowledge that culture is never stagnant; it is impacted with every hire, so be sure you are hiring people who will build the culture you are targeting. Then, build on the good aspects of the culture, even if it’s only one thing, because this can minimize the disruption. - LindaAnn Rogers, SPHR, sHRBP, CBC, Aspire to Align
8. Build Trust Before Leading Change
Build trust first. A cultural overhaul is more a collective shift than a top-down mandate. The key is to listen. Meet with key stakeholders and gather unfiltered insights from employees at all levels. People don’t resist change; they resist being changed. Building trust first ensures that the reset is rooted in real needs and emotionally intelligent action, not just a singular vision. - Leisse Wilcox, Leisse Wilcox Consulting Inc
9. Assess The Current Environment And Define Core Values
Before resetting the culture, a CEO must first assess the current environment. This involves talking to employees, gathering honest feedback and identifying real issues. Without this, changes may face misalignment and resistance. Once the gaps are clear, the CEO can define core values, communicate the vision effectively and lead by example to reinforce the cultural shift. - Dr. Aman Alzubier, dramanalzubier.com
10. Align Leadership Around Shared Values
Culture eats strategy for breakfast—you do not want to get this wrong. Align with your leadership team around the cultural values you collectively believe will reset the organization for a positive future. Make every future decision in alignment with these values. Do not deviate. - Brittney Van Matre, Rewild Work Strategies
11. Change Actions And Systems, Not Just Words
Understand that culture is a result, not an object for change in and of itself. You must change the underlying actions, attitudes and systems to move the culture in your desired direction. Action always speaks louder than words. Senior leadership exemplifying the new values allows everyone else the opportunity to mirror new beliefs and attitudes. - Ed Brzychcy, Lead from the Front
12. Create A Cross-Departmental ‘Culture Committee’
Assuming the CEO has conducted engagement surveys and has reliable data, they should form a “culture committee” comprising members from every department in the organization. The committee will be part of the recodification of the vision and values. Once the project is complete, they will act as messengers, advocates and ambassadors of the newly minted culture. - Edward Doherty, One Degree Coaching, LLC
13. Map Out The ‘Unwritten Rules’ Shaping Operations
Before making big moves, map out the “unwritten rules”—the behaviors, habits and power dynamics that drive the culture, not just what’s in the handbook. Sit down with longtime employees, observe decision-making patterns and pinpoint what shapes daily operations. If you skip this step, you risk forcing a culture shift that looks good on paper but fails where it matters: inside the company’s DNA. - Alla Adam, Adam Impact Institute
14. Find Out What People Value About The Current Culture
Before diving into a companywide cultural reset, the new CEO should take the time to ask people what they value and what they don’t value about the current culture. It’s essential to understand what truly matters to employees and where they feel things could improve. By listening first, the CEO will be able to foster a culture of trust, change, empathy and collaboration. - Shikha Bajaj, Own Your Color
15. Make Sure You’re Not Being Driven By Ego
Here’s one challenging step you can take—ask yourself, with core honesty: “How much of this need for a total cultural overhaul is about the actual needs of the company, and how much is my own egoic need to make an impression, to have an impact or to show what a powerful leader I am?” - Dr. Joel M. Rothaizer, MCC, ABPP, Clear Impact Consulting Group
