Culture isn’t just about what’s written on the wall—it’s what gets lived every day in real conversations, decisions, and behaviors across all levels of an organisation. Yet, we’ve all seen too many beautifully framed mission statements that are completely disconnected from what it’s actually like to work there.
If you want culture to be more than words, you’ve got to make it intentional.
Enter the “Culture Club.”
No, not the ‘80s band. We’re talking about an internal, cross-functional group dedicated to actively reinforcing, celebrating, and evolving your company’s values and culture every day. Done right, a Culture Club becomes the connective tissue between leadership intent and frontline experience—ensuring that your core values show up in real and concrete ways.
Let’s explore how high-performing organisations like Southwest Airlines and others have institutionalised this idea—and how you can do it too.
A Culture Club is a grassroots initiative made up of passionate employees from across departments and functions. Their mission? To preserve and promote the organisation's core values, drive employee engagement, and act as a cultural heartbeat within the business.
Unlike HR—which owns policies—or Comms—which drives messaging—the Culture Club operates across functions with one clear mandate: keep the culture alive, evolving, and aligned with company values.
Culture Clubs can take many forms depending on the size and structure of the company, but here are a few key roles they play:
You want iconic culture? Cue Dallas-based Southwest Airlines. Legendary for their fun, upbeat culture rooted in “LUV,” Southwest has long credited their Culture Committee (their version of a Culture Club) as a key contributor to employee satisfaction and service excellence.
Here’s how it works:
The result? Southwest continues to rank among the top airlines in Glassdoor reviews, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement—despite the operational turmoil that plagues much of the aviation industry.
Want to start (or uplevel) your Culture Club? Here’s a 5-step framework to get it right:
Your values aren’t one-time workshops or beautifully written documents—they’re lived behaviors. They show up in how you make decisions, celebrate wins, resolve conflicts, hire (or fire), and build community.
Culture is what you celebrate, what you tolerate, and what you repeat.
Culture Clubs provide the structure and energy to make your values actionable—not just aspirational. They give voice to the people who care deeply about the kind of organization you’re becoming.
In a scaling company, the flywheel effect starts with aligned People and strong Culture. A Culture Club can be the spark.
Are you ready to breathe life into your values? As a Scaling Up coach and corporate retreat facilitator, I’ve seen firsthand how Culture Clubs can turn inertia into momentum.
Book a call and let’s explore how to align People with Purpose—because culture doesn’t scale on its own!