Culture isn't a soft metric. It's a 3x return.

Hi Nik,

Every Friday I share one thing I've noticed in the field of commercial leadership. This week it's not from a coaching conversation, it's from the data: companies with genuinely strong workplace cultures have out-returned the broader market by roughly three to one over almost three decades. If you've ever had to justify a leadership development budget with a slide that says "trust matters," this is the slide.

This week in the field

FTSE Russell tracked the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For against the Russell 3000 since 1998. Over 28 years, the 100 Best returned 3,175% cumulative against 907% for the index, 13.4% annualised versus 9.2%. Roughly three times the market (FTSE Russell, 2025).

What it means in practice

The mechanism isn't mysterious. Two-thirds less turnover than the US average. 85% of employees giving discretionary effort versus 60% at typical workplaces. 8.5 times the revenue per employee. Trust and engagement don't sit next to performance, they produce it, faster innovation, stronger execution, better retention, all three showing up before they ever reach a P&L.

"Organizations characterized by high trust and high engagement often show patterns of faster innovation, stronger execution, and better talent retention." — Catherine Yoshimoto, Director, FTSE Russell (2025)

The question to sit with

If someone asked you to prove your team's culture is worth the investment, what would you actually show them?

Curious where you'd score on this? Take the free CODE Leadership Scorecard, five minutes, free.