REFLECTIONS: Defining Culture

Coaching Culture with Ben Herring

What's the difference between teams that thrive under pressure and those that crumble? It's not just talent or resources—it's culture. In this thought-provoking episode, I take you beyond buzzwords to explore why culture truly serves as the heartbeat of high-performing teams.
Culture lives in that gray, hard-to-measure space that surrounds all the visible parts of performance. I share my galaxy analogy: your skills and techniques are like stars, but culture is the rich, dark matter that allows those stars to truly shine. The deeper and richer this background becomes, the more brilliantly your team's talents can emerge.
One truth I've learned from my coaching journey: there is no universally "right" culture that works everywhere. I vulnerably share my own failure when I tried transplanting Leicester's successful rugby culture to a Japanese team, only to realize that authentic culture can't be copied and pasted between environments. What works brilliantly in one context may fail spectacularly in another.
Drawing from my conversations with world-class coaches like Steve Hansen, Eddie Jones, and Johan Ackerman, I reveal their unique definitions of culture—from "what we do when no one's watching" to "the glue" that holds everything together. I also introduce my biological definition: culture as "an environment suitable for growth," where leaders function as culture starters in the team's petri dish.
Whether you're leading a sports team, business unit, or family, this episode provides practical questions to define your unique cultural blueprint: What environment do you want to create? What behaviors deserve celebration? What standards are non-negotiable? Because culture isn't just something you talk about—it's something you intentionally build, nurture, and protect every single day.
Ready to transform your team environment? Hit subscribe now and join our community of reflective leaders committed to creating cultures where people and performance thrive together.

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Chapters

1. Introduction to Coaching Culture Reflections (00:00:00)

2. No Right Culture, Just Your Culture (00:03:59)

3. The Galaxy Theory of Team Culture (00:05:08)

4. How Top Coaches Define Culture (00:07:23)

5. The Petri Dish Definition of Culture (00:17:07)

6. Four Questions to Define Your Culture (00:22:11)