In many organizations, culture plays like background music, always on, rarely named, and too often overlooked until something goes wrong. But culture is not a “nice-to-have.” It’s essential to business success. Waveney Belle, Senior Human Resources Executive and Founder of Executive Edge, sees culture for what it truly is: infrastructure, a core business system that shapes how strategy is received, how teams operate, and how outcomes are delivered.
With over two decades of experience leading people strategy across financial services, insurance, retail, and other regulated industries, she’s developed a perspective that reframes culture as a system, one that requires the same design, discipline, and accountability as any other enterprise function.
Reframing Culture as Infrastructure
“Culture isn’t about perks or posters,” Waveney says. “It’s not ‘vibes.’ Culture is capital. It’s infrastructure.” She talks about culture the way other executives talk about technology stacks or supply chains, with precision and intention. And like any system, culture can degrade over time. “If you don’t design it with intention, it breaks down, taking trust, execution, and credibility with it.” Organizations routinely invest millions in technology, operations, and process improvements, only to be underwhelmed by the results. The problem isn’t always or solely the strategy. “More often,” she says, “no one stopped to evaluate whether the culture could carry the weight of that strategy.”
Culture Is the Speed of Strategy
Too often, culture is misunderstood as a soft ideal or an intangible asset. Waveney pushes back on that misconception directly.
“Culture determines how fast your strategy moves, or if it moves at all.” Whether you’re launching AI tools, expanding to new markets, or restructuring for the future, execution depends on people trusting the direction, having role clarity, and feeling like they belong in the story you’re building. When those conditions aren’t in place, even the most sophisticated business plans stall. Waveney has seen it firsthand, and more than once.
Culture Drives Execution
Waveney shares a story every CEO and executive team should hear. “I’ve seen organizations implement identical operating models with dramatically different outcomes.” Same strategy. Same resources. Entirely different results. The difference? One company treated culture as an afterthought. The other embedded it from day one, designing leadership behaviors, decision rights, and communication strategies with the same rigor as their structural changes.
The outcome wasn’t even close. The company that prioritized culture accelerated adoption and exceeded expectations. The other faced resistance, stalled progress, and eventually abandoned the effort altogether. Waveney’s conclusion is clear: “Culture is execution at scale. When your culture lacks definition, your execution will inevitably not reach its full potential, and in some cases, it may fail altogether.”
Boards Monitoring Cultural Risk
Waveney encourages boards to consider a broader view of oversight that reflects the realities of modern enterprise leadership.
“Boards routinely review financial and operational risks,” she notes. “Bringing culture into that same rhythm of governance can unlock meaningful insights and strengthen execution in moments of transformation.” In an era where resilience, trust, and adaptability drive enterprise value, culture deserves more than a line in an engagement report. It warrants deliberate attention as a system that shapes outcomes, not just sentiment.
The CHRO’s Role: Designing a Culture That Executes
Culture may not live solely within HR, but HR plays a critical role in designing and embedding it across the organization.
“Culture demands structure,” Waveney says. “Values translated into behaviors, behaviors embedded into systems, and systems monitored through data.” The shift happens when HR treats culture with that same intentionality. “When HR leaders partner with the business to embed culture into performance frameworks, talent reviews, leadership development, and recognition systems, culture becomes self-reinforcing.”
It evolves from an abstract ideal into a living system, one that drives alignment, accountability, and execution. The opportunity for today’s CHROs is clear: lead culture with the same precision and discipline expected from any enterprise function, and position it as a core enabler of strategy.
The Closing Challenge
Waveney’s message is simple but powerful. “You already have a culture. The only question is whether it’s accelerating or hindering your strategy.” The companies that thrive in complexity aren’t just the ones with bold strategic plans. They’re the ones that treat culture as infrastructure. They design it carefully, fund it properly, and hold people accountable for results. The payoff is worth it. “When culture and strategy align, your organization gains clarity, speed, and resilience.” For Waveney, this separates companies that thrive during tough times from those that just survive. Her final challenge to leaders cuts right to the point: “Let’s stop managing culture on vibes and start leading it with the same precision we expect from every other critical system.”
Follow Waveney Belle on LinkedIn to explore how culture can become your biggest execution lever.
