By Ramkumar Seshu, Author of Born to Win and Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita

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“𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

Last month, a successful Mumbai fintech CEO told me something heartbreaking: “𝘞𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧—𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦, 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦.”

This is the hidden cost of rapid growth that no one talks about in investor pitches or board meetings. You can scale revenue, technology, and headcount. But can you scale the intangible magic that made people believe in your mission?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅

In your early days, culture was organic. Everyone knew everyone. Values were lived, not posted on walls. Decisions reflected your beliefs because you made them personally.

But growth changes everything:

• 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: New people don’t carry your cultural DNA, Only have vague expertise

• 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀: Your message gets distorted through organizational layers

• 𝗕𝘆𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲: Practices replace the personal touch that defined your culture

• 𝗛𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀: Pressure to move fast compromises cultural consistency

I’ve witnessed companies lose their essence in 18 months of haphazard scaling. More tragically, I’ve seen founders become strangers in the organizations they created.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸

Culture isn’t accidental—it’s architected. Our “𝗜 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗡” methodology applies powerfully to cultural preservation during growth.

𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟭: “𝗜 𝗖𝗔𝗡” – Cultural Self-Awareness Before scaling culture, leaders must articulate what culture means. Not generic values like “integrity” and “excellence”—specific behaviors that define “how we do things here.”

One of our Bangalore clients defined their culture as: “We assume positive intent, debate ideas fiercely but respectfully, and celebrate collective wins over individual achievements.” Specific. Behavioral. Measurable.

𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟮: “𝗪𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗡” – Cultural Amplification Your leadership team becomes culture carriers. Every manager must understand their role as a cultural multiplier, not just a task delegator. Culture spreads through story, example, and recognition—not through policy documents.

𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝟯: “𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗡” – Cultural Embedding Culture becomes self-sustaining when it’s embedded in systems: hiring criteria, performance reviews, promotion decisions, and daily rituals.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲

𝟭. 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Don’t just tell your company story—teach others to tell it. Our Bangalore client created “Culture Champions” who share founding stories, success narratives, and lessons learned with every new hire.

𝟮. 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Convert abstract values into specific actions. Instead of “customer obsession,” define it as “responding to customer queries within 2 hours” and “visiting customer sites monthly.”

𝟯. 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Maintain meaningful traditions as you grow. Weekly all-hands meetings, monthly team lunches, quarterly off-sites—these aren’t overhead; they’re cultural investment.

𝟰. 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 Every major decision should pass the culture test: “Is this how we do things here?” When leaders make choices that contradict stated values, culture dies regardless of what’s written on walls.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸

Answer honestly:

• Do new hires understand your culture within their first month?

• Can your managers explain company values through specific examples?

• Are promotion decisions based on cultural fit alongside performance?

• Would customers recognize your values in their experience with you?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹

If you’ve already lost cultural ground, recovery is possible but requires intentional effort:

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟭: Document what culture meant in your early days

𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝟭: Train managers on cultural leadership and storytelling

𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭: Align all hiring, promotion, and recognition systems with cultural values

𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟭: Measure cultural health alongside financial metrics

Your Cultural Legacy

Growth without culture is just expansion. Scaling while preserving your soul requires treating culture as seriously as you treat revenue, recognizing that culture is both your competitive advantage and your responsibility to stakeholders who believed in your vision.

The companies that thrive long-term aren’t just those that scale fast—they’re those that scale while remaining true to what made them special in the first place.

The question isn’t whether you can grow. The question is whether you can grow while staying you.

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯? 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 : I LOOK FORWARD TO TALK TO YOU. CLICK THIS LINK