Yesterday, at the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting at the Ritz-Carlton, our members were treated to an electrifying keynote by Jim Knight, former Hard Rock executive and author of Culture That Rocks. His message hit home: great culture doesn’t happen by accident — it’s built note by note, action by action, leader by leader.

In today’s fast-changing business climate, talent is mobile, technology moves fast, and consumer expectations evolve overnight. What keeps an organization grounded and growing is culture — the shared behaviors, beliefs, and energy that define how work gets done and why it matters. It’s not the ping-pong tables or free snacks; it’s the consistency of values lived out from the front desk to the boardroom.

Jim reminded us that culture can’t be delegated. Leaders set the tone — every day, in every interaction. Whether you run a small local firm or a multi-location enterprise, people take their cues from you. The way you treat your team becomes the way they treat your customers. That’s not soft stuff; it’s strategy. In fact, research shows that companies with strong cultures experience higher retention, faster innovation, and stronger profitability.

At the Chamber, we see this truth across our 1,500-plus member businesses. Those who invest in their people, communicate a clear purpose, and celebrate success together are the ones thriving — even through disruption. Culture is the glue that holds a company steady when the market shakes, and it’s the fuel that propels it forward when opportunity knocks.

Building a strong culture doesn’t require a massive budget — but it does require intentionality. Start by defining your core values in plain language. Hire and promote by them. Celebrate behaviors that reinforce them. Listen to your employees as actively as you listen to your customers. And most of all, protect your culture like the asset it is, because it truly drives every other metric that matters.

As Jim Knight put it, “If you don’t intentionally shape your culture, it will shape itself.”

At the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, we’re proud to stand beside businesses that are doing the work to build cultures that rock — because when companies thrive from the inside out, our entire community wins.

Heather Kasten is the President/CEO of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce. 

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