Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast

13th August 2024, Tuesday

It’s been a while since my last blog post—not due to laziness, but because life has been incredibly busy. The last time I wrote, I discussed advice for early childhood educators aspiring to become edupreneurs. Since then, I’ve traveled to KL for Edutropism, a leadership conference for educational leaders and school owners. Upon returning, we immersed ourselves in a week-long session with the SOMO Group. Throughout this journey, I’ve reflected on the overwhelming gratitude I feel—blessings upon blessings, strength upon strength.

Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast

This well-known quote resonates deeply with me, but how many of us genuinely prioritize culture? Recognizing its importance is why I connected so well with Hedki, the founder of the SOMO Group. I’ve always understood the kind of culture we wanted to build, but I wasn’t sure how to achieve it. Back in 2016, when our team was just 10 or 15 strong, I felt confident in fostering the ideal culture. I’d probably rate myself 9 out of 10 in that regard. But as we scaled, my confidence waned. The rapid growth felt out of control, making it increasingly difficult to maintain or build that corporate culture with just personal effort.

The Challenge of Building Culture

Creating a culture is a tough process. With a team of fewer than 20, it’s relatively easier. The primary challenge is how you live as a leader or founder. Culture isn’t something you can teach—it’s not knowledge you pass on like teaching someone to fish, finance, or art. Culture is life itself, and it must be authentic to endure. In a small team, members observe and are inspired by the leader’s life. For instance, if the leader values excellence, it’s not just about giving instructions like “do your best” or “ensure quality.” Excellence can’t be effectively taught this way. Instead, it’s about how the leader lives and the sacrifices made to achieve that excellence.

However, it’s crucial to recognize that leadership can influence culture in both positive and negative ways. When a leader accepts the status quo, expresses powerlessness, or worse, plays the victim, it can lead to a toxic environment. Toxic leadership isn’t just about ineffective leadership—it’s about having a negative influence on the team, which can poison the entire culture. This toxicity can be just as influential as positive leadership, but with detrimental effects. It’s a reminder that leadership isn’t just about having influence; it’s about using that influence to build a positive, healthy culture.

The Gap Between Knowledge and Action

We all know the theory—like waking up early or exercising daily—but what bridges the gap between knowledge and action? The answer lies in feelings. If people don’t feel inspired, they won’t sacrifice their comfort to achieve something greater. Why wake up early or work out when it’s easier to stay in bed, watch a movie, or hang out with friends? Similarly, why go the extra mile for the company to make the owner rich or the school more famous?

The key question is: How do we inspire others to feel the drive to act? It starts with the life of the leader. When a leader is truly convicted by a vision, they live their life not accepting the status quo but actively working to make a difference. A follower might accept things as they are and feel powerless, but a leader’s influence, whether positive or negative, shapes the culture around them.

Leadership and Culture Are Inseparable

Leadership isn’t about skill alone; it’s about life. In our top leadership meeting today, my wife shared her perspective on leadership. Although she never had an interest in leadership, her work and position have forced her to develop these skills. Hearing her talk about this put a smile on my face. This journey so far, including the recent leadership development initiatives—from Edutropism to SOMO Group’s internal workshop with Stellar’s team and today’s leadership discussions—has borne fruit. I see the results of the time and energy we’ve invested in our leaders.

Challenges Mold Leaders

The saying “时势造英雄” (Circumstances create heroes) holds true. Comfort doesn’t create heroes; adversity does. Just as light shines brightest in the darkest hour, a leader’s potential is most evident in challenging times. Like a parent, we often don’t fully grasp what it means to be selfless until we are placed in situations that require us to care for others. Parenthood teaches us to think beyond ourselves, to plan for the next generation, and to consider concepts like infinity and eternal sustainability. These are ideas I never truly contemplated until I became a parent myself.

This understanding leads me to appreciate challenges more deeply. It’s not the challenges or the situations we find ourselves in that define us; rather, it’s our perspective on those challenges that shapes our identity. How we view and respond to difficult circumstances reflects our inner growth and maturity.

My wife, who once feared even the smallest challenges, has grown immensely. She has risen above her fears, becoming a calm and capable mother and leader. This transformation is the essence of leadership.

Culture Begins with Life

Building culture isn’t about knowledge or skill—it’s about life. It starts with us, impacting a small group, and that group, in turn, influences others. This ripple effect can transform a community, a city, and even a nation.

Eight years ago, we were just a small preschool team. Now, we’ve grown into an international school. This growth was born out of life itself—our mission gave birth to the business, not the other way around. But with expansion comes the challenge of maintaining impact, which is why we’ve had to focus on building systems, structures, and processes to ensure sustainability.

Life, Strategy, and System

While life is the foundation, it’s not enough. We need strategy, systems, and processes to ensure continuous growth and development. Building leaders starts with building lives, and that’s not about knowledge—it’s about impact and inspiration. This is the purpose of Stellar: to inspire the dream of a better world through innovating education and transforming lives.

Today, we also discussed the wording of our purpose—whether it should be “innovating education to transform life” or “innovating education and transform lives.” The difference, though subtle, shapes our identity. But in the grander scheme, we are here to inspire a better world, whether in education, finance, marketing, or any other field. Everyone has the potential to inspire through their natural gifts and talents.