November 09 2026
By: Shawn M. Galloway
Do not read the mission, vision, and values statements. Walk the jobsite and watch what happens when no one is looking.
Culture is not what the executive team mandates. It is what your frontline teams permit. It is the lived set of expectations that show up in daily decisions. Does someone pause a job for uncertainty? Does a supervisor coach or blame? Do peers protect the standard or protect the shortcut?
Here is the part most leaders miss. You have multiple subcultures. Two crews doing the same work on the same site can feel like different worlds. So stop averaging them out with one enterprise-wide program. Diagnose the team where work actually happens.
Obtain answers to five questions. What does the leader model? What is rewarded and punished here, formally and informally? What is tolerated that contradicts the standard? What are people afraid of? And what are they proud of?
Those answers reveal your team's operating system, and your fastest levers for change.
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.
