Most leaders tell me they want a great culture, but when I ask them to define it, things usually get a bit fuzzy. They point to surface-level perks or happy faces, or worse, they assume creating culture is HR’s job. That is a major UH-OH for any organization.

If you can't define what a 'great culture' looks like, you can't build it. And you certainly cannot fix it when things go wrong.

A Cohesion Culture™ isn't a mystery. It's a culture that’s infused with cohesion. You may have a culture of service, excellence, innovation, or joy. Those fundamental core values remain. Through our Cohesion Culture™️ program, we guide leaders to build on three non-negotiable pillars. If one is missing, you don't have a high-performing culture or team... You just have a group of people sharing an office (or a Zoom link).

In celebration of Leadership Day on Friday, February 20, I am offering readers a free download of our book Becoming a Cohesive Leader: The POWERup Guide to Grow, Develop, and Advance Your Career. But I realize not all Cohesion Corner™ with Dr. Troy subscribers have been here since the beginning. So I wanted to take a moment to go back to the basics and introduce you to the Cohesion Culture™ framework.

The Three Pillars of Cohesion

• Belonging: This is the human need to be part of something bigger than oneself. It’s the difference between having a seat at the table and actually being invited to the conversation. Belonging is the difference between an employee who simply clocks in and one who is emotionally invested in the outcome. To understand the fullness of this concept, inclusion must be present. Getting an invitation to a party starts the process of belonging, yet it’s not cemented until the person arrives at the party, is greeted, introduced to others, told about the food and invited to dance. Now, the party goer moves from invitation to being involved. Involvement is the key to inclusion.
• Value: Everyone wants to know that their work matters. But even more than that, they need to know that they matter as individuals. The work must be meaningful, have purpose, and drive results toward desired outcomes. Leading a team as if they are merely parts of a machine is a fundamental mistake that undermines the very foundation of a culture infused with cohesion.
• Mutual Commitment: This is the ultimate two-way street. It exists when leaders prioritize their people’s well-being as much as employees prioritize the mission. Without mutuality, you’ve settled for compliance rather than true commitment. Typically, collaboration is how this level of commitment exists. Through collaboration, people feel need and trusted. Trusted to tell the truth. Trusted to do their job. In this final element or pillar, the embodiment of belonging and value work in tandem with commitment to form cohesion.

Education often works best through contrast. If you find your team is simply checking the boxes, you might be trapped in a Compliance Culture. Use these comparisons to identify where your team currently sits:

• Motivation: In a Compliance Culture, people are driven by a fear of consequences. In a cohesion-infused culture, they are driven by a shared vision and a deep sense of belonging.
• Effort: Compliance only gets you the minimum required effort. Cohesion inspires discretionary effort, the willingness to go the extra mile because the team matters.
• Communication: Are you only giving top-down instructions? That’s compliance. Cohesion is built on two-way dialogue where every voice has value.
• Result: Compliance might give you short-term stability, but it eventually leads to a toxic work environment. A culture that delivers long-term retention and growth is fueled by cohesion.

Listen to Cohesion in Action:

What happens when a leader has the strategy right but forgets the people? In this week's episode of UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders, performance coach Aaron Trahan shares his recovering corporate executive journey.

Aaron opens up about his UH-OH era, where early career wins caused him to coast and lose sight of the human side of leadership. We discuss how he used a 360-degree feedback report to identify his blind spots, allowing him to transition from a 'terrible people leader' to a coach who helps others find their true potential.

Click here to listen.

Please let me know what you think. Subscribe. Comment. Share. It’d be great to include you in The Cohesive Leader family.

The UH-OH Reality Check

If your team is experiencing high turnover, low engagement, or quiet quitting, it’s time for a diagnostic. Ask yourself:

1. Do my people feel like they truly belong here because their opinion counts?
2. Do they know exactly how much I value their unique contribution to the meaningfulness of their work?
3. Is our commitment to one another a two-way street based on collaboration where need and trust thrive?

If you can’t answer a confident YES to all three, your culture needs an infusion of cohesion. .

Don't Forget Your Leadership Day Gift

As I mentioned at the start, this Friday, February 20, is Leadership Day and the book birthday for Becoming a Cohesive Leader.

Whether you are looking to revitalize your internal team or adopt a Cohesive Sales Approach that wins clients for life, it all starts with these basics. My goal is to help you shore up your own pillars of cohesion with the blueprint that has helped thousands of other leaders.

Download your free copy of Becoming a Cohesive Leader here: thecohesiveleader.com/freebook