April 27 2026
By: Shawn M. Galloway
You don't have one culture. You might have an official culture, but you also have many subcultures. If you want to know how many subcultures you have the potential for? 
How many first-line leaders do you have?
Two teams can work in the same company, under the same policies, and live in completely different realities. That's why culture change so often stalls, and where? At the front line.
Leaders try to change the whole company at once. The unit of change isn't the company. It's the team, it's the subculture. Culture spreads sideways, through daily experiences, peer influence, and the frontline leader's routines, not through corporate rollouts.
If you want culture to change, why are you still trying to change everyone at the same time? Start with one team. One supervisor. One set of local norms. Make it real there first. Then, scale what works.
Shawn Galloway, CEO of ProAct Safety, is an expert in safety excellence. With almost thirty years of experience, he is a highly sought-after advisor, keynote speaker, and expert witness. Shawn has become a trusted partner to leading organizations across various industries worldwide. He ranks in the top 1% of the most prolific writers in his field, having authored over 500 articles and several bestselling books. He also launched the world's first safety podcast, Safety Culture Excellence©. As a recognized authority in safety, Shawn has received awards such as being named among the Top 50 People Who Most Influence EHS and a Top 10 Speaker, among others.
He is a regular guest on Bloomberg, Fox News, The Daily Mail, Dubai One, U.S. News & World Report, Sirius Business Radio, Wharton Business Daily, and leading safety magazines and podcasts. Shawn also serves as a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, Forbes Business Council, and Fast Company Executive Board, enabling his influence to shape safety thinking and strategy at the executive level.
