And if your bank’s culture is broken, it can be fixed. In fact, that’s some of the easiest and fastest money to bring right to the bottom line—but only if you know what you’re doing.

That begs the question: What is culture, really? Is it a happy little feeling, deep inside? Unfortunately, if it is nothing but a “happy feeling,” it would be like eating Chinese food where you’re hungry an hour later.

It’s much more than that.

Culture is a series of systems that ties everyone to the values, behaviors, and outcomes of your organization, so everyone is aligned. In a nutshell, culture is best described as, “This is how we do things around here.”

Culture drives the performance, culture drives the behaviors, and culture drives the outcomes of the organization. And that’s the key.

I have a friend who says that no one has done more harm to the culture of businesses in America than Gallup. He said they ask survey questions like, “Do you have a best friend at work?” and “Do you have everything that you need to do your job?”

By their very questions, they’re building a culture of entitlement.

In a strong bank culture, when the impossible needs to happen, your people say, “Bring it on.” They feel that “everything is figureoutable.” Their motto is, “we can do hard things.”

Miracles are expected.

But for that to become a reality for you, you and your bank’s executive team have to understand what bank culture really is.

It is that fire in the belly to make great things happen—that purposeful drive to learn what you need to know so you can do the job that really matters.

Culture is important—but only if you want to grow faster or make more profit.