You Culture Doesn't Need a Hero. It Needs a Tag Team.

By Coleman Williams & Maggie Redling, Co-Founders of Wrestling With Talent

Let’s be real—leaders are tired.

Not because they don’t care, or aren’t committed, or aren’t “resilient enough.” They’re tired because they’re carrying the weight of culture on their own. We ask leaders to role model the values, coach their teams, drive change, deliver performance, communicate clearly, stay human, hold accountability, and somehow still make it to their kid’s soccer game. That’s not leadership—that’s survival mode with a PowerPoint deck.

And it’s not working.

Culture doesn’t thrive when it’s one more thing on a leader’s plate. It thrives when leaders are part of something bigger. A system. A support structure. A tag team.

Culture Is Heavy. Don’t Lift It Alone. Develop a Shared Leadership Culture

We’ve worked with plenty of organizations that have great values on paper—but struggle to bring them to life. And in nearly every case, it’s not because their leaders don’t believe in the values. It’s because they don’t have the tools, time, or support to live them out consistently.

A manager trying to lead a team through change with zero cross-functional context

A new leader asked to "model the culture" without ever getting coaching themselves

A director who believes in the values—but doesn’t see them reinforced by their peers

In these moments, leadership can feel like a lonely uphill climb, but it doesn’t have to be. The best cultures are built by leaders who aren’t trying to do it all alone. They tag in their peers. They build partnerships. They share the load.

That might look like:

Peer learning groups where leaders problem-solve in real time
Skill Mates—intentional partnerships across functions or levels to build coaching habits
Value-based storytelling exercises that help leaders connect day-to-day actions to the bigger picture
Feedback frameworks that make “How are we doing this together?” a regular conversation—not a crisis checkpoint

When leaders are part of a team—not just a hierarchy—culture starts to flow. People see it, feel it, and reflect it.

Make It a Practice, Not a Pressure Point

Too often, culture is treated like a campaign—a splashy initiative that shows up once a year, asking leaders to step up, speak out, and somehow do it all faster and better. But the reality? Most leaders don’t need more pressure. They need more practice.

Culture-building shouldn’t feel like a side project. It should feel like part of how leadership gets done. That means making space for teams of managers to pause and talk through a tough moment. It means giving leaders permission to name when a decision didn’t align with the values—and support each other in making the next one better. It means inviting peers across departments to say, “Hey, this matters—and we all own it.”

When culture shows up in the rhythm of real work, everything shifts.

We’ve seen it happen when leaders start sharing stories, not just reports. When they reflect together after a hard call or a tough quarter. When they practice giving feedback that’s values-forward, not just performance-focused. And when they know there’s someone they can turn to—not to offload the work, but to carry it together.

That’s what we mean by a tag team. Not a metaphor. A model. A way of working that makes culture feel less abstract and more actionable. Less lonely. More sustainable. And a whole lot more human.

Why It Matters

Culture is often treated like a noun—something you “have.” But it’s really a verb. It’s what people do, and especially what leaders do together.

When leadership becomes less about the individual and more about the system, everything shifts. You get consistency. You get accountability. You get energy that doesn’t rely on a single person.

Tag teams don’t just lighten the load. They raise the standard. Because the strongest cultures aren’t built by leaders who try to do it all. They’re built by leaders who know when to tag someone in.

About the Authors, Coleman Williams and Dr. Maggie Redling:

Hey there! We are Coleman and Maggie, Co-Founders of Wrestling With Talent. 👋

Our journey started in 2016 when we met while working for the same startup in Charlotte, NC. Coleman’s love of wrestling sparked conversations about finding unexpected connections and lessons from professional wrestling and applying them to People programs. And the rest was history!

Wrestling With Talent opened its doors in 2020 and brings our clients a combined 20+ years of HR, learning, culture, and change management experience. We offer a unique combination of education and experience. We aim to help people think about their worldview differently. Learning doesn’t always have to happen in the way you expect. We combine research and innovation to help clients deliver people-focused results through experiential activities.

About CultureCon®:

CultureCon®, a Certified B Corporation®, is on a mission to inspire positive change around organizational culture. Through large conferences, online courses, consulting services, and certification programs, we deliver experiences that provide practical tools and motivation for our customers to become cultural change agents within their organizations. Our customers include business owners, CxOs, HR leaders, senior management, individual contributors, and anyone who wants to build more uplifting, inspiring, and healthy workplaces.

Learn more about our upcoming events.