The web we weave

A few weeks ago, something unexpected happened. Out of the blue, a colleague from my Kellogg’s days (someone I hadn’t spoken to in nearly nine years) reached out and invited me to dinner. We reconnected, shared stories, and caught up on life, work, and everything in between. It was warm, nostalgic, and grounding.

At some point during the evening, he asked me a simple question:
“Sabrina, what do you think is more important to prioritise in business, your customer or your employees?”

I’ll be honest. That moment caught me off guard. I was frustrated. Some of our business metrics were off, and I felt like we weren’t delivering what we should for our customers, despite years of pouring energy, care, and focus into our team. I felt like the balance had tipped too far. So I answered (perhaps too quickly) “70% the customer, 30% the team.”

I could see something changed in him after that. Maybe he thought I’d become too harsh. Maybe he expected a different type of answer from me. Whatever it was, we haven’t spoken since. Something in that dinner, in that moment, left a crack in the connection.

But here’s the thing: time brings clarity.

Since that dinner, I’ve reflected a lot, not just on the answer I gave, but on the deeper web of beliefs underneath it. Because the truth is, that question (customers or employees) is really a question about culture.

Culture is what decides whose needs come first, what behaviours are rewarded, and where the tension lives when priorities compete. It's the web we weave, thread by thread, moment by moment, through the decisions we make and the values we live.

I’ve come to see culture as an invisible hand. It weaves through the DNA of a business. It shapes how people interact, how decisions are made, what’s prioritised, and ultimately, how things get done, or don’t. It’s not just about values written on a wall. It’s the shared, often unspoken understanding of what matters here, how we treat each other, and what’s acceptable.

It’s how we hire. How we grow. How we course-correct. It’s the container for the entire business.

And it doesn’t happen by chance. Culture must be intentional. Defined. Revisited. Evolved. It needs to be put down on paper (in black and white) and then lived out in colour, over and over again.

Especially now, as we integrate with a company that operates with a very different cultural lens, I’m seeing this more clearly than ever. On paper, our values match. But in practice the cultures are worlds apart. And while one isn’t better than the other, they are different, deeply, palpably different. Like two distinct shapes with their own edges and textures.

And here’s a truth I’ve learned the hard way: you can’t force a culture to change overnight. You can evolve it. You can guide it. But if you try to penetrate or abruptly overhaul it, something breaks. People feel like they’ve lost the ground they stood on. It can be jarring, even damaging.

So, coming back to my friend’s question, customers or employees? From where I stand now, they’re both equally important. Employees are the living heart of the company, not just a means to an end, but an end in themselves. And customers are the lifeblood we serve. It’s never really about choosing one over the other. It’s about the culture we create, the web we weave, that holds them in balance.

And if he ever reads this, I hope he knows that my answer that night was a reflection of frustration, not belief.

Because what I believe, now more than ever, is this:
How you make people feel inside your business deeply shapes what your customers experience outside of it.

Culture is the bridge. The web. The quiet architecture behind every outcome.

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What values are being quietly and invisibly woven into the culture around you? And are they the ones you want to live by?

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