Culture Quotes by Titans
For organizations, companies or groups to thrive, they need a vision and a strong culture. Here are 100 culture quotes by some of the greatest leaders of recent times.


Amy Jo Martin
Founder, CEO, Digital Royalty
If we really want to be effective with communication, we have to humanize our brands.

Andrew Wilkinson
Founder, Tiny
Company culture is the continuous pursuit of building the best, most talented, and the happiest team we possibly can.

Anne M Mulcahy
CEO, Xerox
Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person — not just an employee — are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.

Arne Sorenson
CEO, Marriott
A big part of our people-first culture is treating people with respect and transparency.

Barbara Landes
CFO, PBS
It's important to create a culture of innovation — one that both values and rewards risk.

Bill Gates
Founder, Microsoft
If your culture doesn't like geeks, you are in real trouble.

Biz Stone
Founder, Twitter
Positive culture comes from being mindful and respecting your co-workers, and being empathetic.

Blake Mycoskie
Founder, TOMS Shoes
I think a large part of that is the fact that I’m a large believer in hiring the right people and giving them unbelievable amounts of power and autonomy.

Bob Parsons
Founder, GoDaddy
Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

Brian Chesky
Co-Founder, CEO, Airbnb
A company's culture is the foundation for future innovation. An entrepreneur's job is to build the foundation

Brian Chesky
Co-Founder, CEO, Airbnb
Culture is simply a shared way of doing something with a passion.

Brian Halligan
Founder, HubSpot
The way I think about culture is that modern humans have radically changed the way that they work and the way that they live. Companies need to change the way they manage and lead to match the way that modern humans actually work and live.

Brian Kristofek
President and CEO, Upshot
Being a great place to work is the difference between being a good company and a great company.

Brittany Forsyth
VP, Human Relations, Shopify
Determine what behaviors and beliefs you value as a company, and have everyone live true to them. These behaviors and beliefs should be so essential to your core, that you don’t even think of it as culture.

Caterina Fake
Founder, Flickr
So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.

Colin Angle
Founder, iRobot
Culture is the magic start-up ingredient.

Courtney Chapman
Product Manager, Rubicon Project
Company Culture is the product of a company’s values, expectations and environment.

David Cummings
Co-Founder, Pardot
Corporate culture is the only sustainable competitive advantage that is completely within the control of the entrepreneur.

David Mattin
Author, New World
There’s really no such thing as internal culture any more. Your culture is always public, and it’s your most powerful, public-facing asset or liability.
David Zinger
consultant, Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is the art and science of engaging people in authentic and recognized connections to strategy, roles, performance, organization, community, relationships, customers, development, energy and happiness to leverage, sustain and transform work into results.

Dele Ola
Author
A rigid structure does not give room for adaptability and change. A rigid structure turns people into slaves of rules, procedures, policies, and practices.

Doug Conant
CEO, Campbell Soup Company
To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace.

Dr Aubrey Daniels
Founder, ADI
We can change culture if we change behavior.

Ed Catmull
Founder, Pixar
A hallmark of a healthy creative culture is that its people feel free to share ideas, opinions, and criticisms. Lack of candour, if unchecked, ultimately leads to dysfunctional environments.

Ev Williams
Founder, Twitter
When you’re in a small boat, you can see who’s paddling hard and who’s looking around.

Frances Frei and Anne Morriss
Author
Culture guides discretionary behavior and it picks up where the employee handbook leaves off. Culture tells us how to respond to an unprecedented service request. It tells us whether to risk telling our bosses about our new ideas, and whether to surface or hide problems. Employees make hundreds of decisions on their own everyday, and culture is our guide. Culture tells us what to do when the CEO isn’t in the room, which is of course most of the time.

Frances Hesselbein
CEO, the Girl Scouts
Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day.

Gary Vaynerchuk
co-founder, the restaurant reservation software company Resy and Empathy Wines
Company culture is the backbone of any successful organization
Gina Lau
Culture, & Inclusivity Strategist
Our secret weapon for building the best culture is open and honest feedback.

Howard Schultz
CEO, Starbucks
In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. They are real and sustainable. Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.

Howard Stevenson
Professor Emeritus at Harvard University
Maintaining an effective culture is so important that it, in fact, trumps even strategy.

Jack Ma
CEO, AliExpress
You need the right people with you, not the best people.

Jack Welsh
CEO, General Electric
No company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.

Jay Samit
Author, Disrupt you
Most companies overlook the most basic of all training functions: the onboarding of new employees into their corporate culture.

Jessica Herrin
Founder, CEO, Stella & Dot
Shaping your culture is more than half done when you hire your team.

Jim Goodnight
CEO of SAS
Treat employees like they make a difference, and they will.

Johan Huizinga
Dutch historian
If we are to preserve culture we must continue to create it.

John Mackey
CEO of Whole Foods Market
If you are lucky enough to be someone’s employer, then you have a moral obligation to make sure people do look forward to coming to work in the morning.

Jorge Paulo Lemann
Founder, Ambev and 3G Capital
The greatest asset of a company is its people.

Julie Winkle Giulioni
Author
Authentic engagement is not available upon demand. It’s less like today’s Keurig and more like the old-style percolator: instead of coffee at the push of a button, coffee grounds and water were put together, with heat applied and time allowed for one to permeate the other.
Justin McLeod
Founder, CEO, Hinge
I look for two things when I hire a new employee: ambition and humility. Without a proven track record of initiative and ambition, it’s likely the person becomes a drain rather than a contributor to the company – even the really smart, talented ones.

Justin Moore
Singer
This is not about fuzzy, holding hands around a campfire, kumbaya stuff. That’s not what values and culture and mission is about. This is about building an organization for success. This is about winning. This is about doing the tactical things to make sure your organization and your people are aligned around the same thing.
Kamil Toume
Author
The real competitive advantage in any business is one word only, which is people.

Ken Blanchard and Scott Blanchard
Author
Connect the dots between individual roles and the goals of the organization. When people see that connection, they get a lot of energy out of work. They feel the importance, dignity and meaning in their job.
Kevin Rose
founded Revision3
A team aligned behind a vision will move mountains. Sell them on your roadmap and don’t compromise — care about the details, the fit and finish.

Kip Tindell
CEO of The Container Store
You can build a much more wonderful company on love than you can on fear.

Larry Page
CEO, Google
Make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, has a meaningful impact and is contributing to the good of society.

Larry Senn
Author
Culture is not an initiative. Culture is the enabler of all initiatives.
Libby Sartain
HR Guru
If a Brand doesn't live on the inside, it can't thrive on the outside.

Liz Liu
Head, Culture, Scopely
We believe in relentlessly refining our skills and knowledge, as a team and as individuals.

Logan Green
Co-Founder, Lyft
If you want employees to feel appreciated, you need to celebrate their achievements regularly and publicly.
Louis V Gerstner, Jr
CEO, IBM
Culture isn't just one aspect of the game, it is the game. In the end, an organization is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value.