What if the thing holding your team back isn't a process issue or a skill gap, but a story no one realizes they're telling? A story about worth. About what makes you matter.
After years coaching founders and senior leaders, I've noticed patterns repeating themselves across industries. A team hits a wall. Something breaks down. The usual response? Restructure, adopt a new framework, bring in outside help. Yet beneath the surface, nothing really changes. Why?
Because of the invisible scripts.
These beliefs we inherit slip under our radar. Most of us don't even realize they're driving us. They lurk beneath our stated values and conscious decisions, quietly shaping what feels safe, what we reward, what we overlook or dismiss.
Take this leader I worked with a while back. Always in firefighting mode. Thousands of people under her globally. Smart. Driven. Respected by everyone. But constantly chasing the next emergency. When things got quiet? She didn't rest. She'd find—or create—new fires that needed her attention. Her calendar stayed perpetually full. But her energy? Fraying at the edges, thread by thread.
We eventually uncovered what was happening beneath this exhausting pattern: "My value comes from solving problems others can't." This narrative had carried her through the early stages of her career. As a leader, though, it was actively preventing her from building sustainable systems and developing her team's capabilities.
That's culture's sneaky power. It teaches us what's expected, but silently. And until we drag those expectations into the light, they run the show.
Back in the '80s, Edgar Schein called this the deepest layer of culture—our basic assumptions. I prefer scripts. They're harder to spot because nobody wrote them down. They live in muscle memory. In tone. In loaded silence. In the subtle signals about who gets to speak up.
The scripts with the most power orbit around one central question: "How do I prove my worth?" Some answer through constant productivity. Others through perfectionism. Many leaders believe it's by having all the answers, always. These narratives about value and belonging shape our organizations in profound ways—usually without us noticing.
So I'll leave you with this:
- What script runs underneath your leadership style?
- Who taught it to you—and when?
- Which story about your worth is steering your decisions today?
Most of these stories grew from survival instincts. But that doesn't mean they belong in the future you're trying to build.
Try this small practice. Think of a moment where you find yourself struggling to make a decision or where you feel stuck. Ask yourself:
- What belief is quietly driving that response?
- Is it still serving me?
- What might shift if I rewrote my narrative from "I matter when I..." to "I matter, full stop"?
This is Cultural Alchemy at its core. It starts with noticing. Not with judgment, but with curiosity.
This post kicks off a 7-part series. Each piece will explore another layer of culture—how it forms, how it holds us, and how we can reshape it from within.
If this resonates, share it with someone else rewriting their own script. Let's do this work together.