As an amateur photographer, I now appreciate the importance of having a tripod both for the quality of my pictures and the safety of my camera. I have been a victim of improvisation (placing my camera on books) and I ended up ruining my camera. As the Brits would say, "I was penny wise, but pounds foolish."

Similarly, think of your organization as a three-legged stool. If all the legs are in place and balanced, you have a stable and productive stool. If just one of the legs is short, you have an unstable tool. Instability in an organization has consequences; loss of focus, productivity, morale, attrition, etc. The three legs that ensure an organization's stability and success are strategy, execution, and culture (mindset, behaviors, and experiences). Your culture is like the third leg of a three-legged stool. When your culture is taken for granted, your organization will become grounded. I find that, just as I improvised with my camera, leaders take shortcuts with their organizational cultures by:

• Delegating and making it an HR-driven agenda

• Rewarding and advancing people who deliver business results even when it is counter to the organizational espoused beliefs. Also, when you fail to address undesired behaviors, you positively reinforce it.

• Treating culture as a program or initiative

• Not connecting the routine work of employees to results and culture

• Lack of leader role modeling.

So, how do leaders ensure they are pro-active and not reactive in fostering a culture that drives results. It starts with having the three-legged stool mindset and doing the following:

• Integrate your culture into every facet of the life cycle of your business.

• Fit your strategy to match your existing culture and not the other way around. If you are not happy with the current culture you have, focus on evolving that. This way, your culture will accelerate the results you want to see.

• Hold yourself and your leadership team accountable to role model your organizational culture. For example, ask yourself, "What more can I do or say right now to role model the behaviors that drive the right mindset?" Also, foster an environment where it is okay to learn from mistakes.

• Reward authentic and desirable behaviors as much as technical competence.

What makes organizations go from good to great is when leaders pay equal attention to strategy, execution, and culture. Your culture can be a sustainable competitive advantage because it can't be copied or bought. Make your culture journey about progress and not perfection.