"Culture is revealed when behavior collides with values." — Jeff Lovell (07:53)

In this summer-session episode of the Leaders Rising Podcast, Jeff Lovell and Aaron Lee pull back the curtain on a timely truth for growth-stage organizations: Culture isn’t the enemy of performance—it’s the pathway. With candid reflections from their own compressed schedules and real client stories, Jeff and Aaron dig into the friction leaders feel when aspirations don’t match behavior.

Whether you’ve got posters on the wall or ping-pong tables in the office, this conversation reframes culture from a vibe to a diagnostic. You’ll hear how performance stress, feedback gaps, and people-first leadership all intersect—and how micro-decisions are shaping your workplace more than your strategy slides.

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Take the Culture Pulse Assessment

6 minutes. 8 questions. Find out what's really going on.

Take the Culture Pulse Assessment and get a clear picture on where your team is headed.

Link in the show notes @ LeadersRisingNetwork.com/podcast

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Key Quotes

• “Culture doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to be practiced.” – Jeff Lovell
• “We all footnote our values. The leadership moment is deciding whether we’ll own it.” – Aaron Lee
• “Ask your team: Where is our culture not showing up the way we say it does?” – Jeff Lovell

Show Outline

• 00:00 Summer tensions and the leadership pulse check
• 03:27 The culture problem myth: What we miss when we blame culture
• 05:39 Culture as what we do, not what we say
• 07:53 Behavior vs. values: Where real culture is revealed
• 11:08 Feedback, reviews, and owning the story
• 14:25 Client example: Execution wins, culture slips
• 17:00 Human capital is not a machine
• 21:30 Whole people, whole week: Building space for humanity
• 24:35 A practical reflection tool for cultural gaps
• 28:08 Bold step: Ask where your culture isn’t showing up
• 29:35 Invitation for follow-up and free culture conversations