Founders often point at culture when things aren’t working. But what they’re really seeing is execution failing them.

Culture and execution aren’t separate—they feed one another. When execution starts missing, it reveals where clarity, leadership and accountability have drifted out of alignment.

In this episode James Mayhew shows how you can stop blaming culture and start fixing execution. He introduces the concept of Progress Meetings—structured conversations that bring clarity, alignment and consistent behavior.

Episode 6 in the series Execution That Scales

Most founders have momentum. They’re doing well. But underneath the wins there’s this quiet friction—team members not stepping up, priorities drifting, ownership fading.

In this episode, James Mayhew challenges the “culture first” mindset and shows how execution reveals the real state of your leadership system. He introduces Progress Meetings—a monthly rhythm where leaders and team members talk about goals, responsibilities and behaviors—and explains why that conversation drives clarity and alignment.

• Why culture and execution form one continuous loop
• How lack of clarity at the individual level scales into team failure
• The 3 parts of the Progress Meeting: goals, responsibilities, behaviors
• Why consistency in conversation builds ownership and performance

1. What does your team’s execution reveal about your culture?
2. If you looked at how often and how deeply you held Progress-type conversations, what story would it tell about your leadership?

The Next Question Guide → NextQuestionGuide.com

LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/jamesmayhew

Website → JamesMayhew.com