It’s been said
so many times in so many different ways that I can’t really say who said it
first.  While searching for the origin of
this quote, I came across this version by former Fox News commentator Michelle
Malkin once said (although many others have said it):

The leader
establishes the expectations, and the organization follows. These expectations
can be very permissive with no recognizable structure, or the expectations can
be clear and reasonable. What the leader permits becomes the cultural norms of
the organization. The leader must take a “no-compromise” position
when actions violate values and standards.

A company’s
core values are useless if leadership lacks the courage and support to enforce
them.  For example:

The value is
“integrity” but everyone knows he’s cheating on his wife

The value is
“hard working” yet there’s still that one lazy person on the team

The value is
“positivity” but the same person is always first to say why something can’t be
done

The value is
“teamwork” yet management tolerates one’s bad behavior on account of their high
performance (it’s usually the top sales person)

Culture is all
about a shared way of doing things, and when leaders don’t address those that
aren’t on board, it sends the wrong message to everyone else. Their inaction
undermines company values and communicates that values don’t really mean
anything. These are the employees who have high jacked your culture, and you
will never make progress until you remove these cancers and stand up for
company values. Otherwise, your good employees are left to believe, “If that
person can get away with it, why should any of the rest of us even try?”. The
best ones just leave.

If you want to
be successful in having a great culture, you have to set behavioral
expectations that fit and apply them to everyone, relentlessly.  That means ridding your company of the people
who fly in the face of your values, however difficult it may be.

Leaders create
the culture, and the behaviors that they permit or allow are the ones that they
encourage and promote.