If I asked you to describe your credit union’s culture, what would you say? If you weren’t sure how to answer that question, where would you look for help in doing so?

Many people would consult things like mission statements, core values and guiding principles. And the words and phrases found therein do provide insights on what I refer to as the “professed culture,” the one the authors would like to have.

In my experience most mission statements and other such foundational documents have two things in common:

• They all sound good.
• They have little or no impact on employee behavior.

So where would you look to see evidence of the actual culture? That culture—the only culture you have—is reflected in the behavior of people working in your organization.

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