Culture Change Isn’t Instant: Leadership Lessons from Chick‑fil‑A

The Long Game of Culture Change

Building a high-integrity organizational culture is often described as the secret to long-term success, but anyone who’s actually lived through the process knows it’s anything but simple. Leaders may come in with vision, values, and urgency, believing they can set the tone with a few strong messages. But culture doesn’t shift on command. And for those who’ve spent years under poor leadership or inside broken systems, those promises can land more like déjà vu than direction.

The truth is, culture change rarely feels like a clean break. It feels more like dragging something heavy uphill — slow, inconsistent, and harder than it looks from the outside. Even when the intent is good, progress can be so gradual it’s easy to miss. And when it fails, it doesn’t usually fall apart in dramatic fashion. It just quietly fades, until the old ways come back.

Still, change is possible. And sometimes, it starts with something as simple as two words, repeated again and again until they finally mean something.

Chick‑fil‑A’s “My Pleasure” Story: Small Phrase, Big Cultural Impact

When you hear a Chick‑fil‑A team member cheerfully say, “My pleasure,” it feels natural – even iconic for the brand. One thing you may not know is that it took about 10 years for that simple phrase to become part of Chick‑fil‑A’s culture. The now-famous hospitality line wasn’t always a staple; it began as an idea from founder S. Truett Cathy after he visited a Ritz-Carlton hotel and was struck by an employee’s gracious reply of “my pleasure” to a thank-you. Believing this courteous touch conveyed warmth and luxury, Truett Cathy came home and asked his operators and team members to start responding “my pleasure” whenever a customer thanked them.

However, culture change doesn’t happen just by making an announcement. Old habits persisted. At the next annual operator meeting, Cathy noted that many staff still weren’t saying “my pleasure” routinely. He reiterated the request, emphasizing he was serious about the change. Yet another year went by with inconsistent adoption. Finally, on Cathy’s third reminder, he firmly drove the point home: “Let me be clear. If you want to work for Chick‑fil‑A, your employees will all say, ‘My pleasure’ at the end of every transaction.” He then backed up his words with action: visiting stores, gently correcting lapses, and praising those who exemplified the new standard. This persistent leadership from the top signaled that “my pleasure” was non-negotiable as a company habit.

Over the years, those two words became more than a catchphrase. They became part of Chick‑fil‑A’s identity. By repeating, repeating, repeating the message, Truett Cathy slowly instilled it into daily operations. It didn’t happen overnight, or even in 18 months. It took several years of consistent emphasis to institutionalize this principle. Now, a couple of decades later, the impact is undeniable: you can hardly leave a Chick‑fil‑A without hearing “my pleasure” from a smiling employee. This story illustrates that even a small cultural change can be transformative, but it requires time and tenacity. As one leadership expert observed, “Change never happens overnight — especially in a company that already has a culture… If you believe in something, push through.”

Chick‑fil‑A’s high customer service ratings and loyal fan base today are in part the result of patiently building a habit of hospitality one interaction at a time.

Leadership takeaway: Don’t underestimate the effort behind the scenes. Chick‑fil‑A’s leaders treated culture change as a long-term investment. Reinforcing core values in every meeting, modeling the behavior themselves, and holding their team accountable until a new habit took hold.

Law Enforcement: Building Trust Through Culture – The Camden Example

Changing the culture of a police department can literally mean life or death for community trust and safety. A powerful example comes from Camden, New Jersey. Once plagued by high crime and strained police-community relations, Camden underwent a dramatic policing culture shift in the 2010s. In 2013, the city took the drastic step of rebuilding a new county-run department from scratch. This reset allowed leaders to embed a fresh vision of public service into the agency. Over the following years, the Camden County Police Department made significant changes in daily practice. Officers were required to spend much of their time walking the beat on foot, knocking on doors and introducing themselves to residents. The department organized neighborhood events to humanize officers. Training was overhauled to emphasize de-escalation tactics and reduce use of force, in an effort to redefine policing from a warrior mentality to a guardian mindset.

The cultural transformation did not yield results overnight, but steadily, confidence began to rebuild. Camden’s officers and citizens slowly grew accustomed to seeing each other as partners rather than adversaries. Over time, crime began to fall. In 2012, Camden recorded 67 homicides. By 2021, that number had dropped to 23, and overall violent crime had decreased by about 40%. But the momentum didn’t stop there. In 2024, Camden reported just 17 homicides, the lowest number in nearly 40 years. Shootings were down 36%, violent crime dropped another 17%, and total crime fell across the board. While challenges remain, many Camden residents acknowledge that the police are more approachable and engaged now. “The culture of the agency changed,” explained Chief Gabriel Rodriguez, who grew up locally and now leads the department. He notes that when officers got out of their patrol cars to chat on porches and share coffee with neighbors, something powerful happened: community members started calling the police before trouble happened, because they trusted them. 

That level of trust is a hallmark of Camden’s new culture. One built through years of sustained effort, not a quick policy memo. Camden’s experience proves that even in a high-stakes, traditional environment like law enforcement, culture change is achievable with bold leadership and community collaboration. It took years of consistent practices – hiring new officers who embraced the vision, re-training veterans, and reinforcing the message that “we are here to serve” – for the new culture to sink in. By aligning daily behaviors (foot patrols, conversations, courteous problem-solving) with the department’s espoused values of de-escalation, respect, and service, Camden’s police gradually shed an “us vs. them” attitude and earned public trust. 

Leadership takeaway: For public safety leaders, Camden underscores that culture change may require fundamental shifts in how your people do their jobs day-to-day. It won’t happen overnight. Officers and staff need time to adapt to new expectations, but persistent leadership and engagement with the community can rewrite the narrative. Start with clear values (e.g. respect, integrity, community partnership), bake those values into training and standard practices, and lead from the front. Over time, even a troubled organization can transform its reputation and results by living its values consistently.

Healthcare: From Clinical Excellence to a Culture of Empathy

In healthcare, as in public safety, technical excellence alone isn’t enough. Culture defines the patient experience. A striking example comes from the Cleveland Clinic, a top medical center that realized it needed a cultural makeover about 20 years ago. In 2005, CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove had a wake-up call when a former patient told him that her physician father chose a rival hospital (Mayo Clinic) for surgery because of Mayo’s reputation for empathy, even though Cleveland Clinic had superior surgical outcomes. In other words, Cleveland Clinic was known for brilliant medicine but a cold bedside manner. A culture that prized outcomes over empathy. Cosgrove recognized that had to change. “I have come to understand that there is more to quality health care than great outcomes… it is about communication and the expression of care and concern,” he admitted. This spurred a broad initiative to shift the culture from physician-centered to patient-centered care.

The Clinic’s leadership rolled out concrete changes to instill empathy at every level. Starting in 2006, they created a Chief Experience Officer role, a C-suite champion for patient experience,  and declared that every employee is a “caregiver,” whether doctor, nurse or janitor. This simple but profound mindset shift (“everyone is responsible for the patient experience”) helped break down silos and foster empathy as a shared value. Moreover, Cleveland Clinic invested heavily in training: all 43,000 employees, from heart surgeons to receptionists, attended workshops on how to communicate better, listen actively, and express compassion to patients and each other. Doctors learned to ask open-ended “why” questions and sharpen their listening skills to connect with patients on a human level. Instead of assuming empathy was an innate trait, the organization treated it as a skill that could be learned and reinforced,  a habit of care. 

Change didn’t happen overnight here either, but the effects were dramatic. Within a few years of focusing on empathy, Cleveland Clinic saw patient satisfaction scores soar. In fact, one report noted that the Clinic went from “dead last” among peer hospitals in patient satisfaction to first place nationally. This turnaround was measurable and meaningful: fewer complaints, higher survey ratings, and patients choosing the hospital for its caring environment. Culturally, the hospital shifted to where a story about a doctor comforting a patient or a staff member going the extra mile became as celebrated as surgical success rates. Leaders kept the momentum by frequently sharing patient letters and stories with staff to highlight the impact of empathy, and by recognizing employees who exemplified the new values. Today, the phrase “Patients First” is woven into Cleveland Clinic’s ethos, and it’s backed up by daily behaviors, from a surgeon taking time to hold a nervous patient’s hand, to an environmental services worker who pauses to ask if a family needs directions. 

Leadership takeaway: The Cleveland Clinic case teaches that even a highly successful organization may need to redefine success to include cultural elements like empathy. For leaders, it’s a reminder that “soft” skills can yield hard results. Most importantly, it takes continuous reinforcement: Cleveland Clinic’s culture shift worked because leadership treated it as equally important as clinical training.

What Culture Change Actually Takes: For Those Leading It, and Those Hoping It’s Real This Time

For leaders, culture change is often a test of endurance. For those working under them, it’s often a test of trust.

One group is trying to set a new tone. The other has seen promises like this before and is waiting to see if it sticks.

The gap between the two is where most change efforts fall apart.

But the organizations that get it right, the ones that don’t just talk about culture but actually shift it, tend to have something in common: they understand that this isn’t a quick pivot. It’s a slow turning of the wheel. It requires leaders who are consistent, visible, and serious and it also requires people inside the system to stay open, patient, and quietly hopeful, even when experience has taught them not to be.

Here’s what that looks like for both sides of the equation.

For Leaders: Culture Isn’t Proclaimed. It’s Proven.

If you’re in a leadership role, whether you’re new to it or trying to repair what was left behind, the first thing to remember is that credibility is earned slowly, especially in places where trust has been broken.

People won’t believe in a new direction just because you put it on a whiteboard. They’ll believe it when they see it lived out in the decisions you make, the things you tolerate, and the way you show up when no one is watching. The standards you reinforce, not once, but over and over,  are what set the culture. Not the ones you mention in passing.

You don’t have to be perfect. But you do have to be consistent. If you’re asking your people to operate differently, speak differently, or treat one another differently, then you have to be willing to model that first — without exception.

And most importantly, you have to give it time. The instinct to “fix” things quickly is strong, especially if you feel pressure to prove results. But culture doesn’t shift on a timeline. It shifts through persistence, clarity, and repetition. Even when the results aren’t immediately visible.

When Chick-fil-A’s founder Truett Cathy introduced the phrase “my pleasure,” it didn’t catch on right away. He repeated the expectation again and again, over several years, before it became habit. Not because people were resisting change, but because habits take time. In Camden, NJ, police leadership didn’t just train officers in community policing, they walked neighborhoods themselves to demonstrate what it looked like. It took years to rebuild public trust, but they stayed the course.

That’s your job now: to hold the line long enough, clearly enough, and visibly enough that others begin to believe the shift is real.

For Officers, Firefighters, Dispatchers, and Medics: You Are the Culture Too

If you’ve been working inside a department where leadership changed but nothing else did, you’re not imagining things. A title doesn’t fix culture. A new logo doesn’t rebuild trust. And you’re not wrong for being skeptical when you hear another promise that “this time, it’s different.”

But culture isn’t something handed down — it’s something lived in.

You shape it every time you step in, speak up, show up differently, or support a colleague the right way even when it’s easier not to. You shape it by what you accept, what you challenge, and what you model for the next person coming in the door.

If you’ve been through failed reforms or short-lived “new directions,” it makes sense to approach change with caution. Most people don’t resist it because they’re stubborn, they resist it because they’ve seen how often it falls apart. So when something starts to shift, it’s natural to wonder: is this just another phase?

But even slow, early changes matter. A leader who starts showing up differently. A standard that’s suddenly enforced — and fairly. A conversation that would’ve been ignored a year ago now taken seriously. These aren’t fixes, but they’re signals. And while they might not look like much at first, they’re often how real change begins.

You don’t have to buy in all at once. And no one should expect blind loyalty. But if you start to notice those moments, and choose to meet them with a little more engagement than withdrawal, you’re not just reacting to the culture. You’re shaping it.

And in places where trust has been worn thin, that kind of contribution matters more than most people realize.

Conclusion: Culture Doesn’t Change Overnight — But It Does Change

The belief that culture can shift quickly or painlessly is just that — a belief. The reality is far more demanding. Real culture change, the kind that rebuilds trust, improves performance, and restores pride, takes time, consistency, and grit. It doesn’t come from a mission statement. It comes from people living their values, over and over, until those values become habits.

Whether it’s a fast-food chain building a habit of hospitality, a police department regaining a city’s trust, or a hospital choosing empathy as a standard, the lesson is the same: strong cultures are built on small behaviors, reinforced daily. And they are led, not just announced.

Leaders who succeed in this work don’t chase perfection. They set a clear course and keep showing up. They hold the line when it would be easier to give in. They model what they expect and give their people a reason to believe that this time, things can be different.

And for those who’ve served under broken cultures, those still waiting to see if this time is for real, the most important thing may be this: you don’t have to believe in it all at once. Just keep watching. Keep showing up. Change doesn’t need everyone on day one, just enough people willing to try.

You don’t have to fix it overnight. You don’t have to fix it alone. You just have to decide not to settle.

Because the strongest cultures aren’t built by force,  they’re built by example.

And when that example catches on, something incredible happens: People stop needing to be told what the standard is.

They start living it. 

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1. Cathy, S. Truett. Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People. Looking Glass Books, 2002.– Details the origin of the “my pleasure” phrase and Truett Cathy’s leadership approach at Chick-fil-A.

2. Sullivan, Paul. “Why Chick-fil-A Employees Always Say 'My Pleasure'.” New York Times, 2020.– Provides insight into how the phrase was adopted, reinforced, and normalized through leadership behavior and accountability.

3. The Globe and Mail. “The City That Really Did Defund the Police.” 2021.– Reported on Camden, NJ’s police department transformation, cultural shifts, and crime reductions tied to community policing.

4. Cleveland Clinic. “Patients First: A Cultural Transformation.” Cleveland Clinic Office of Patient Experience, 2014.– Summarizes how the hospital shifted to a culture of empathy, and how training and leadership supported lasting change.

5. Cosgrove, Toby. The Cleveland Clinic Way: Lessons in Excellence from One of the World's Leading Health Care Organizations. McGraw Hill, 2014.– Describes the patient experience initiative and cultural reinvention at Cleveland Clinic.

6. National Institute of Justice. “Policing by Place: The Case of Camden, NJ.” 2016.– Case study on Camden’s cultural reforms, policing strategies, and leadership tactics during transformation.

7. Harvard Business Review. “How Cleveland Clinic Used Empathy to Redefine Its Culture.” HBR, 2016.– Explores leadership strategy behind Cleveland Clinic’s turnaround in patient satisfaction.