My last post, "Own Your Culture" made the case that culture gets built whether you intend it or not — and that values, not strategies, are its foundation. This post is about the practical work: how you actually embed culture into your organization so it outlasts any single decision or speech.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Most people hear this adage and conclude that culture is more important than strategy. That’s true, but I focus on the meal. It’s breakfast, not dinner. Culture is the first thing that impacts your people.

I thought she was a great hire. Her resume sparkled and she impressed everyone who interviewed her. Her former co-worker gushed about her. But soon after onboarding it became clear that though her performance was good we absolutely could not trust her. Within six months she was gone. Soon afterward, I ran into a colleague who had worked with her years ago. The same problem had surfaced at his company, with the same outcome.

“Who can tell me about someone you fired too early?”

I co-chair a national collaborative of accomplished entrepreneurs. At a recent meeting, the CEO of a mid-sized company asked the group “How do I get my employees to think I care about them so they’ll be motivated to go the extra mile?”

Ever left a meeting and thought, “That was a waste of time”? You’re not alone. Over 70% of employees rate meetings as a waste of time; only 11% find them productive. That’s a failure of leadership.

I had several occasions to hear former Secretary of State George Schultz speak. He discussed different issues each time but he always included the phrase, “Trust is the coin of the realm.”

As a young CEO I focused on customers, selling our products and gaining input for improving them. I hired good people and expected them to do their jobs well. But they weren’t getting much of my time during our brief and irregular meetings and that wasn’t working. So I turned to what most management experts consider a best practice: weekly 1:1 meetings with my Direct Reports. I’ve never turned back, though I have continually improved the process.

When it comes to hiring, the single most common mistake I see is a matter of attitude. Hiring managers tend to overestimate the importance of experience and underestimate the significance of talent.