Protecting Your Culture While You Grow (with Lindsay White)

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In this episode of The KeyHire Small Business Podcast, Corey Harlock sits down with Calgary-based leadership and people strategist Lindsay White, founder of High Voltage Leadership, to talk about a challenge that shows up fast when a small business starts to scale: how to protect your culture while you hire and grow.

Corey kicks off the conversation with a reality small business owners feel in their bones—when you have 10 or 20 people, every new hire can be a meaningful percentage of the culture. Bring in a department head or leadership-table hire, and that influence multiplies. Lindsay agrees and frames culture in a practical way: culture is simply “how we get work done together.” It’s the connective tissue between your vision, mission, values, and the behaviors that make them real. And if you want your business to grow in line with your goals, culture is not optional. As Lindsay puts it, the old idea that “culture eats strategy for breakfast” is true, especially when you’re scaling.

They also unpack one of the most common misconceptions: culture is not a statement on a wall. In a small business, culture is heavily shaped by the owner and leadership team—how they operate, how they make decisions, and how they show up when things get hard. Lindsay emphasizes that the business owner is the most senior leader and must act as the culture champion. If the leader doesn’t “walk the walk,” nobody else will.

As businesses grow, Lindsay notes, the culture has to evolve—not because your principles disappear, but because the way you do the work changes when you move from a handful of people to larger teams and higher revenue. That evolution requires creating other culture champions inside the business, not just relying on the founder to touch every relationship.

Corey and Lindsay get candid about a hiring mistake that damages trust fast: misrepresenting the culture. If you oversell or “tap dance” around what your workplace is really like, new hires feel it immediately—and it’s a terrible way to start a relationship. Their advice is straightforward: be honest and let candidates self-select. When you clearly describe the environment—whether it’s startup “elbow to elbow” grind or a more structured setup—you get a “hell yes” or a “hell no,” and you stop wasting everyone’s time.

Another major culture killer they call out is tolerating behavior that’s contrary to the values you say you want—especially from long-tenured employees or high performers. Lindsay describes how quickly that becomes toxic in a small organization if it isn’t addressed.

To keep things practical, they also share simple, low-cost ways to strengthen culture right away. Corey talks about a coach who used a “three quarters” habit—moving coins from one pocket to the other after having meaningful conversations—as a reminder to be intentional. The point isn’t performative check-ins; it’s presence, listening, and real connection. Lindsay reinforces that the short-term effort pays long-term dividends because it creates buy-in, better communication, and a ripple effect across the team.

If you’re hiring to scale and want to grow without losing what makes your business special, this episode is a grounded, honest look at culture—what it is, how it shifts, and what leaders can do immediately to protect it.

Connect with the Experts 
Learn More about Lindsay: https://highvoltageleadership.ca

Connect with Corey Harlock on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreyharlock/ 

Learn more about KeyHire Solutions: https://www.keyhire.solutions