Leadership is always communicating. Even silence sends a message.
What truly drives how an organization operates is its culture. Strategy, processes, and collaboration all run on it. Yet work environment does not emerge from value statements or change initiatives, but from repeated interactions with leaders. To better understand this dynamic, we asked three experts from practice and academia to share their perspectives.
Culture Is Shaped Through Communication
“Organizational culture is the result of past communication acts by leaders,” says Amanda Keller, Founder and Managing Director of LEAP Consulting GmbH and lecturer at Rochester-Bern Executive Programs (RoBe). Through their communication, leaders continuously send signals. What is valued? What is tolerated? What is discouraged?
“What leaders choose to talk about reveals their norms, mindsets, and values. In doing so, they shape whether an inclusive, values-driven culture or a more toxic one emerges,” Keller explains.
How Leaders Shape Culture Through Communication
Thomas Keller, Deputy Head of Human Resources at Mobiliar Group and module leader at RoBe, emphasizes the central role of leadership in everyday organizational life: “Leadership communication is one of the most powerful levers of culture, because culture ultimately shows up in the behavior of leaders and employees.” Strategies, values, and mission statements may provide orientation. However, the actual culture is shaped in day-to-day practice:
- How are decisions explained?
- How are mistakes handled?
- How are different perspectives acknowledged?
According to Keller, leaders shape culture primarily through three communicative functions:
- Providing orientation
- Enabling dialogue
- Making decisions and taking responsibility
“The real strength of leadership communication lies in listening, framing, deciding—and making this process transparent,” Keller explains.
Communication as Part of an Ongoing Cultural Learning Process
Dr. Stefanie Schumacher, lecturer at the University of Bern and at RoBe, emphasizes that communication does not operate in isolation: “Culture becomes visible in how people act when no one is watching—it is the result of a historical, ongoing learning process.”
Communication makes the often invisible values of an organization tangible. How leaders speak, decide, listen, and deal with uncertainty significantly shapes which principles are truly lived in everyday practice—and which remain merely on slides. Leadership communication is therefore not a supporting tool. It is a central mechanism for shaping organizational culture.
Why Leadership Environment Cannot Be Mandated
Organizations often try to directly shape or change their culture. Stefanie Schumacher cautions, “Those who try to change culture directly misunderstand the direction of causality.”
Culture is an “invisible force,” shaped by structures, strategies, incentive systems, decision-making processes, and leadership behavior. Cultural patterns only begin to shift when people start acting, deciding, and collaborating differently. For instance, organizations that aim to foster collaboration while continuing to reward individual performance send contradictory signals. Culture follows the logic of the overall system. As a result, cultural development requires a systemic perspective. Leaders must see themselves as part of this system, not as external observers.
Conversations with Amanda Keller, Stefanie Schumacher, and Thomas Keller revealed several concrete areas in which leaders can take action.
Leading in Uncertainty: Providing Orientation Instead of False Reassurance
In times of transformation, established routines begin to lose their stability. Leadership communication must then serve as an anchor. Stefanie Schumacher puts it clearly: “People need a sense of orientation. Where do we stand? What does this mean for us? Where are we heading? A credible vision acts like a North Star. Providing orientation does not mean having all the answers, but being transparent about what is known, what remains uncertain, and how decisions are made.”
Thomas Keller also highlights the importance of clarity in times of change: “In uncertain situations, employees do not necessarily expect perfect answers—but they do expect orientation and reliability.”
This connects closely with Amanda Keller’s perspective: “Especially in times of uncertainty, employees seek dialogue rather than one-way communication. They need spaces where they can express concerns and feel genuinely heard and understood. This requires real, empathetic relationships.”
Practical Takeaway: Communicate not only what is changing, but also why—and for what purpose. This provides orientation, particularly in uncertain times.
Enabling Psychological Safety
A culture becomes visible when people feel safe speaking up or remain silent. When leaders punish mistakes, a culture of risk avoidance emerges. When leaders value questions, however, a learning culture develops. Psychological safety is not a “soft” concept—it is a performance driver. Teams with high psychological safety learn faster, are more innovative, and make better decisions.
Amanda Keller emphasizes: “By actively listening, acting with respect, and openly addressing their own uncertainties or mistakes, leaders create a climate of trust and psychological safety. This safety is a key foundation for learning and innovation.”
Practical Takeaway: In meetings, deliberately ask, “What might we be overlooking?” Also, explicitly acknowledge and thank those who offer critical perspectives.
Consistency Between Words and Actions
The most powerful cultural messages are not communicated in town hall meetings, but rather through everyday leadership behavior. When transparency is emphasized but information is withheld, trust erodes. When autonomy is promoted but every decision is tightly controlled, dependency emerges.
Culture is built on experienced credibility. Amanda Keller notes: “The so-called ‘say-do gap’—the difference between what leaders say and how they act—often leads to a loss of trust and undermines the implicit expectations between employees and the organization.”
Practical takeaway: Regularly reflect: Where does my behavior contradict the values I communicate?
Organizational dynamics is not defined by mission statements, but by everyday leadership communication. Leaders shape culture daily—through what they say, what they do, and what they tolerate. To shape culture intentionally, communication must be intentional.
Reflection Questions for Everyday Leadership
Consider the following questions and apply them directly in your day-to-day leadership practice:
- What kind of culture is currently being shaped by the way I communicate?
- What do employees learn from how I respond in critical situations?
- Where could I be more intentional in shaping direction—rather than simply reacting?