How RockStep Builds a Shared Language & a High-Performance Culture

Strengthened
Relationships

Creation of
a Shared Language

Culture Embedded
in Daily Decisions

Client Overview

RockStep Capital partnered with CultureWise to turn culture into a clear, behavior-driven system built around their Fundamentals, which they call “RockSteps.” CultureWise worked closely with RockStep’s executive and leadership team to pull out the behaviors that matter most, and then helped narrow nearly 100 behaviors into a focused set of 25 RockSteps with intentional wording and meaning behind each one.

From there, CultureWise helped Rock Step build a structured onboarding program and establish long-term rituals that made the Rock Steps part of everyday life. For the past nine years, the team has discussed their weekly Rock Step every Monday morning, which reinforces their culture and helps create a shared language for communication, trust, and accountability. That shared language has even helped strengthen confidence with outside stakeholders and support important growth conversations.

Why it Matters

Rock Step didn’t just want “nice values.” They wanted their culture to drive real performance, trust, and accountability, and CultureWise helped them turn that into a clear system people can actually follow. By narrowing nearly 100 behaviors into 25 Rock Steps, and then building a structured onboarding program plus weekly rituals around them, Rock Step created a shared language that improved communication, helped the team handle conflict, built a high-performance team, and strengthened credibility with key outside stakeholders, including major growth and investment conversations.

Challenges

Like a lot of growing companies, RockStep needed more than general culture statements; they needed clear behaviors that everyone could follow so they could drive performance and build a high-level team. They wanted alignment on how people should show up day to day, and they needed a better way to define expectations in a way that was real, not vague.

They also faced the challenge of turning those ideas into something the company could actually live out long-term. RockStep wanted language that was specific and meaningful, and they needed a structure that could stick through onboarding, day-to-day communication, and even high-pressure moments like conflict and growth conversations.

Solutions

CultureWise partnered with RockStep to build a behavior-driven culture system called Rock Steps, starting by brainstorming nearly 100 behaviors and then narrowing them into 25 clear Fundamentals that truly fit the company. From there, CultureWise helped refine the exact wording of each Rock Step, built a structured onboarding program, and helped launch long-term rituals like a weekly “Rock Step of the Week” discussion that has run for nine years, reinforcing shared language, accountability, and consistency across the whole team.