Endorsements

Becker’s guide to business culture draws lessons from elite military and police units. In this debut business book, the author lays out nine crucial components of a successful corporate culture, arguing that a strong culture is the essential foundation for a profitable business. Becker, an entrepreneur and podcaster, combines stories from his role at the head of a tactical equipment company with insights from his interviews with other executives and leaders of military and law enforcement teams. He distills corporate culture into its essential elements, including hiring the right people, maintaining high standards, embracing criticism, and taking risks. Devoting one chapter to each of the nine pillars he identifies, the author illustrates the concepts with stories from tactical law enforcement units, elite military squads, and companies like Pixar, Microsoft, and Amazon. The stories often bring readers into the action as Becker describes hostage situations, terrorist attacks, and military assaults in which teams make split-second decisions enabled by the cultures they have developed. The author makes a solid case for applying the lessons of military and law enforcement to teams who face far fewer life-and-death decisions, though readers outside those fields may not share his enthusiasm for their intense training methods. The author displays a welcome humility as he discusses what he’s learned from his own mistakes as an executive and demonstrates the characteristics that he encourages readers to develop. The text is highly readable—Becker writes in an engagingly conversational style that keeps the pages turning while also making points effectively (“This approach is like throwing away all the sharp knives in your kitchen to avoid injuring yourself”) and highlighting action items and key takeaways. The book has occasional missteps, particularly the inclusion of Pixar as an exemplar without reference to the company’s mishandling of sexual harassment. On the whole, however, the book is full of pithy insights, actionable recommendations, and solid arguments for reimagining corporate culture in both large and small ways. A compelling argument for culture as the defining element of business success.

As a former tactical operator, senior member of government, and business executive, I can attest that Jon Becker nails it in his understanding that organizational culture is the operating system that drives the success or failure of any organization. His use of real-life examples in both tactical no-fail missions as well as the business world demonstrates that it is central to every organization regardless of mission. As he highlights…everyone is the keeper of the standards, so the standards must be clear, well-known, and non-negotiable. Mr. Becker expertly uses his vast experience to make his argument with passion and delivers a 'must read' for every person in every organization that strives for successful outcomes."

A must read for all common sense leaders.

The 9 Practices are not just catch-phrases for this book. They are how Jon Becker has built, sustains, and leads his private business, and the reason we have him present Culture Centric Leadership to our entire team. Jon is extraordinarily credible on building a high-performing team, grounded in individual leadership and selflessness, promoting a culture where innovation thrives, and motives are focused on team success.

Jon Becker is a national treasure. He'll tell you that he's been serving elite units within law enforcement and the military for 40 years, but that undersells it—he's been shaping them. They know what I know: when you have a leadership or culture challenge your first call is to Jon. In Culture First, Jon lays out nine essential practices about leadership and culture building. They are practical, hard-won, and immediately applicable. Read this book. Put each chapter into practice.

With more than 30 years personally involved in law enforcement tactical operations—as an operator, leader, and instructor—I've always been driven by one question: what truly sets apart those who succeed in this demanding profession? Over the years I've read extensively about leadership and team dynamics, but the guidance often felt scattered and incomplete. In Culture First, Jon Becker brings it all together. He clearly identifies the traits that matter most for both individual performance and collective success. The principles are practical, direct, and rooted in the kind of mindset required for real-world service. If you are serious about success and committed to genuine selfless service, this book is must-read. Everything you need is here. The only thing it can't provide is your personal determination and dedication. Knowing that, it's time to get to work.

Jon Becker has carefully distilled decades of first-hand research, business experience, and exposure to elite tactical teams to produce a leadership and culture-building narrative that is entertaining, accurate, and most critically, actionable. Jon's outside sources are unimpeachable, and his personal insights are spot-on! This book belongs on every serious leader's desk or nightstand.

Culture First is a practical, no-nonsense leadership book about building strong teams and creating a culture that drives high performance. Becker writes in a clear, straightforward way that is easy to read and understand, while grounding the ideas in interesting real world experiences. I planned to read a few chapters and ended up finishing it in one night. A great read for anyone who wants to lead better and build a more effective team.

I spent nearly twenty years on a SWAT team and three decades in law enforcement. After teaching critical incident leadership across the country, one truth keeps showing up: most operational failures aren't tactical problems — they're culture problems. Culture First: The 9 Leadership Practices That Build Elite Teams explains why. This book doesn't deal in slogans or motivational leadership clichés. It breaks down the practical leadership behaviors that create trust, ownership, loyalty, accountability, and genuine team cohesion — the things every elite unit depends on long before a crisis ever happens. The principles outlined here are the same ones missing in organizations that struggle with hesitation, internal friction, and lack of initiative. I wish I had this book when I was a young SWAT sergeant. It would have saved years of trial-and-error learning and helped me build stronger teams faster. Whether you lead a police department, specialized unit, organization, or hope to step into leadership one day, this book gives you the foundation every successful team stands on: culture. Without it, tactics fail. With it, ordinary groups become elite teams. This isn't just leadership theory — it's the blueprint for building a team people trust when it matters most.

For those like me who strongly believe the 'operationalization' of Leadership and Culture is critical to success, Jon's book is a fresh look at what it takes to lead through culture intentionally. Many academics love to theorize about 'norms and behaviors' with abstract concepts. But those of us in the trenches of high-risk operations know that leaders need to be able to communicate through plain words and direct action their vision for the culture and then sustain that culture - 'Defend the Village' as Jon writes. I agree. If you are a leader or an aspiring leader, pick up Jon's book and think about your organization. How are you shaping the culture in your organization? There is nothing more important that you can do as a leader to create and sustain a world class organization.

Jon offers a forward-thinking perspective by examining the connections between corporate culture and the culture of elite units. His analysis highlights a powerful and often overlooked principle: effective leadership depends on the trust placed in those operating on the ground. What stands out most is the responsibility leaders must assume—not only in empowering their teams with autonomy, but in fully owning the decisions those teams make, regardless of the outcome. True leadership is not about controlling every action; it is about creating the conditions in which skilled professionals can act decisively, while ensuring that accountability ultimately rests at the top. During the operation conducted at the Bataclan, one of the decisive factors that enabled us to free all the hostages was the freedom of maneuver we were granted. That operational latitude allowed teams on the ground to adapt rapidly, make critical decisions in real time, and respond effectively to an evolving threat environment. The lesson extends beyond elite units. Whether in crisis response or corporate strategy, organizations that cultivate trust, clarity of intent, and freedom of execution are better positioned to succeed in complex, high-stakes environments.

If you lead people and care about the future of your organization, this book belongs on your desk. Culture can quietly undermine performance—or it can become the accelerant that drives sustained success. The difference is choice. And Jon Becker shows you, step by step, how to build it.

In Culture First, lifelong scholar of law enforcement Jon Becker shows us that intellectual curiosity is the foundation of innovation and organizational success: necessary, but not sufficient, for winning decision cycling. Broken into nine chapters— nine lessons, nine tightly-focused analyses of military and police tactics and operations — this book pulls us into the successes and failures of those sworn to protect and defend us all. His observations on culture come from his unique position: as a civilian with decades of daily experience in and around these communities, he stands apart from these elite teams but can give us a deep and thoughtful understanding of how these people work, and how they think. It is culture, in the end, that makes an organization succeed or fail. Becker's lessons are timely, and timeless. A must-read!

In high-risk environments, culture isn't a slogan - it's what determines outcomes. Jon Becker understands that elite performance is built intentionally through standards, accountability, and leadership that puts the team first. Culture First captures the principles I've seen separate average teams from exceptional ones. This book translates hard-earned lessons from elite units into practical guidance for leaders in any arena.

I loved this book. A must read for leaders of all stripes with indispensable lessons for our challenging times.

I have read a lot of leadership books over the years. Most diagnose culture from a distance. Jon Becker spent four decades inside it, while embedded with the world's most elite teams who don't have the luxury of getting culture wrong. I watched Culture First be written by a man I've come to respect deeply. Jon joined me on Episode 103 of The Coffee and Change Podcast to share what those decades had taught him, and what stayed with me was how little he needed theory to make his point. He'd lived it. What he witnessed, and what he distills into actionable practices in his book, elevates culture from where it often gets placed by organizations, as a background condition. Instead, Jon reminds us that it's the work. And the cornerstone to success. In my own work helping organizations navigate change, culture is consistently the thing that either accelerates or stops everything else. Becker names that dynamic with precision, highlighting those cultures leaders inherited and never examined. But he doesn't stop at naming the problem. He then hands you the tools to change it, and ultimately helps save lives. Whether you lead five people or five thousand, this book will make you examine what you've inherited and what you owe the people around you. As you read, you will find that the margin notes will start accumulating fast, and that is the sign of a great storyteller. Excited to share this book far and wide.

Culture First is a leadership book that manages to be both comprehensive and fundamental at the same time. It covers enormous ground without ever drifting into abstraction or unnecessary complexity. One of its greatest strengths is the total absence of jargon or over-engineering: just clear steps, thoughtful guidance, and lessons that translate into practical, immediately usable action. Jon has always had a remarkable ability to look across industries, from SWAT teams to Fortune 500 companies, from elite military units to tech startups, and extract what actually matters. In this book, he pulls together the most valuable lessons about leadership and the deeper cultural forces that shape how organizations perform, reducing them to their essential ingredients and building them back into something cohesive, coherent, and deeply useful. It's a rare synthesis: versatile enough to apply anywhere, concrete enough to implement tomorrow, and fulfilling in a way only the simplest, truest ideas ever are. And part of why it lands so well is because of who Jon is. His own internal culture - the way he leads, behaves, and treats people - shows up on every page. He embodies the qualities we all hope to see in those writing about leadership: humility without insecurity or defensiveness, generosity without ego, and a calm clarity in his presence that only comes with genuine wisdom earned over time. The book reflects not just his experience, but the values he lives by. My hope is that any organization responsible for leading people operating under pressure - no matter what the pressure is - will read this book and apply it to their work environment, because the most meaningful thing a true leader can do is build and maintain an optimal environment for their people.

If you've ever been curious about what separates an elite special operations team from a normal team, this is the book for you. Through 9 simple & beautifully described steps, you're given a crystal clear recipe for what human ingredients that are needed to build and cultivate the necessary culture that makes elite teams.

No leader has an excuse for not reading this book. Jon Becker brings a uniquely comprehensive perspective, drawing on extensive experience across leadership, business, the military, and law enforcement. His diverse background provides rare insight into the cultures of high-performing teams and organizations. Through these experiences, he offers practical guidance on intentionally developing, strengthening, and sustaining a culture of excellence within any team or organization.

I have had the pleasure of working with great leaders throughout my 50 plus years in law enforcement and public safety. Jon Becker’s Culture First book captures what every leader eventually learns, “culture drives performance’. Strategy and mission focus is imperative. The Tribe matters. Technology matters. But culture determines whether those things are effective or not. When culture is strong, teams are strong. They perform with cohesion, trust, discipline, and a shared purpose. When culture is weak, the most talented organizations fail.. In Culture First, Jon distills the lessons of elite teams into nine practices that define how strong organizations operate. What I appreciate most about his approach is he deliberately calls them practices rather than principles. Principles are found in bulletins and plaques on the wall. Everything else requires mentoring and leadership. Throughout my career, I have experienced firsthand the most effective units are not developed accidentally but built intentionally. “You get what you select” so, you must select the right operators and develop them into leaders. These must be strong thinkers and comport with stringent standards. They are the Alphas who never stop learning. In Jon’s book he emphasizes selecting the right people, embracing strong independent thinkers, and enforcing high standards. Strong cultures encourage these practices as well as collaboration that push the abilities for critical incident decision-making. Another powerful theme in this book is accountability. Culture does not survive without it. Leaders who tolerate poor behavior or declining standards slowly erode the very foundation of their organizations. As Jon correctly points out, the behavior leaders ignore is the behavior they accept. Equally important is his discussion of continuous improvement and the willingness to take calculated risks. Elite organizations understand that learning is constant and that failure, when examined honestly, becomes a powerful teacher. Finally, what makes Culture First particularly valuable is that the nine practices work together as a system. For those responsible for team building, whether in public safety, government or business, Culture First reminds us that culture does not happen by chance. It is built intentionally by leaders who understand and support their people and enforce organizational standards.

Through this book, Jon has perfectly encapsulated the necessary qualities and attributes of leadership to develop and maintain success within professional organizations and small units, thereby achieving maximal efficiency, cohesion, and work productivity! To add depth of value, Jon also provides tips and processes to analyze your current leadership and team culture, and how to create, maximize, and/or improve upon those facets. Easy to read, understand, and apply, this book should be mandatory reading material for public safety professionals and business owners!

This book is a must read for anyone serious about elevating their team! The principles Jon talks about are relatable, actionable, and within reach of all leaders. You don't need to be a SWAT Commander in order to lead like one. Worth your time.

I've been searching for a book like this on culture for years. Many authors give people what they want to hear. This book is different. It gives you the authors real experience top cultures.

'Waiting for the perfect answer while acceptable answers pass you by is not prudence. It is abdication of responsibility.' The kind of wisdom that comes from experience and expertise. The real-life anecdotes drive home the lessons and meaning behind each principle. Plus the actual How To challenges allow for serious leaders to set an action plan. This book isn't just a good read, it's constructive and practical. Get growing.

Culture First is a uniquely thorough look into a community that is often misunderstood by the uninitiated. Jon has earned access to exclusive, elite teams that do not operate in an effort to earn notoriety, but protect their culture with the same vigor as they do the public they serve. Jon is welcomed into our tribe based on earned trust, proven selflessness, and a shared sense of purpose. For these reasons, Jon offers the lessons articulated herein with a rare level of credibility that makes Culture First an enduring work of literature that I hope will be referenced by generations to come.

Best Leadership Book I’ve ever read! Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast. This Book Proves It. Five stars. No hesitation. I’ve read more leadership books than I can count, and the pattern becomes predictable quickly. Repackaged principles, sexy compelling anecdotes, and new terminology designed to feel fresh while covering entirely familiar ground. Jon’s book breaks that cycle by confronting the uncomfortable truth that most leadership books conveniently sidestep: culture is the variable that determines whether any leadership philosophy succeeds or fails. The central argument is both simple and devastating. It doesn’t matter how skilled, motivated, or well-trained a leader is if the organizational culture is broken. Their best efforts will be quietly suffocated. It’s like planting the highest-quality seeds in depleted, nutrient-starved soil. The potential is there, but the conditions make growth and change impossible. Anyone who has spent time in law enforcement, the military, or any hierarchical organization will immediately recognize this pattern. Supervisors return from specialized training like SLI excited with fresh ideas and energized with purpose, only to have that momentum crushed by the toxic environment they’re trying to improve. A real and toxic dysfunction they didn’t create and can’t dismantle alone. This book identifies that problem and refuses to let senior leadership off the hook. The shift in perspective is long overdue and the field is better for it. The cost of ignoring culture is measured in burnout, attrition, and organizational failure. This is, without question, the best leadership book I’ve read, and one we have needed for a long time. Thank you, Jon!!

Culture First is a must read book! I love that the book teaches lessons using intense real world stories, learned at some of the most critical events in tactical policing. It also shares deep insights on culture, team building, decision making and leadership. Jon distills lessons from these events that are transferable to any organization. I finished this book in a weekend because I couldn't put it down. I have read a lot of books on culture and leadership and this is one of the best you'll find in either category!

A Must Read! Culture First is an essential read for all leaders and managers. Mr. Becker masterfully uses both real-world tactical and business examples to demonstrate the importance of organizational culture and role of leaders in defining and maintaining it. Not only packed with important lessons, it is a highly entertaining read. Strongly recommended for anyone who cares about operational outcomes and their role in shaping them.

Practical, go-do-it advice from an astute observer who's spent 40 years immersed in the intense, high-stakes cultural and leadership "labs" of elite military and law enforcements units. I also deeply appreciate that this book is as long as it needed to be, and no longer.

Absolute must read for anyone working on their leadership abilities. Outstanding book!

I have read a lot of leadership books over the years. Most diagnose culture from a distance. Jon Becker spent four decades inside it, while embedded with the world's most elite teams who don't have the luxury of getting culture wrong. I watched Culture First be written by a man I've come to respect deeply. Jon shares decades of knowledge in every conversation, and what stays with me is how little he needs theory to make his point. He'd lives it. What he witnessed, and what he distills into actionable practices in his book, elevates culture from where it often gets placed by organizations, as a background condition. Instead, Jon reminds us that it's the work. And the cornerstone to success. In my own work helping organizations navigate change, culture is consistently the thing that either accelerates or stops everything else. Becker names that dynamic with precision, highlighting those cultures leaders inherited and never examined. But he doesn't stop at naming the problem. He then hands you the tools to change it, and ultimately helps save lives. Whether you lead five people or five thousand, this book will make you examine what you've inherited and what you owe the people around you. As you read, you will find that the margin notes will start accumulating fast, and that is the sign of a great storyteller. Excited to share this book far and wide with the world and everyone in leadership.

It is rare that we get the best of both worlds: an insightful, thought book about a subject of which we know nothing; and the inside knowledge of how the events of that book transpired. Jon Becker gives us both. Jon is a towering intellect, both a lawyer and highly successful businessman, and he brings a deep and abiding intellectual curiosity to the subject here at hand. His skill with the written word is balanced against a truly innocent curiosity about that most simple of questions: how do you guys do what you do? This book is pieced and parceled into chapters formed around themes and ideas: how do these teams solve the unsolvable? I give Jon Becker praise I have heretofore reserved only for Anthony Bourdain: He brings you into a world you know nothing about, and by the end you feel part of it.

Excellent read. Jon has a wealth of knowledge and exposure in building culture in an organization. This is a mandatory read for any manager, leader or supervisor.

This is the best leadership book to come out in a long time. It's rare for a book that has so much valuable, original content to also be captivating and incredibly easy to read. Culture First offers a rare behind-the-scenes view of the world's top military and police special operations units and how they intentionally build elite cultures. It's fantastic. There are a ton of actionable steps that can be implemented immediately after reading this book.

Becker’s work in leadership brings concepts from the private sector and infuses it into the public safety sector. Public safety leaders could will benefit greatly from this book. All young leaders and maybe some older ones should read this! Well done!

This isn’t just another read… this is a mindset shift. In competitive shooting—and really any elite team sport—talent alone doesn’t separate the good from the great. Culture does. The way you prepare, the way you trust your team, the standards you hold when no one is watching—that’s what drives elite performance. This book breaks it down in a way that every athlete should understand. It’s about building a culture where accountability is expected, pressure is embraced, and excellence becomes the standard. If you’re serious about competing at the highest level, this is required reading. Period. I truly believe this will change the game for teams who understand what it takes to win consistently—not just individually, but as a unit. Thank you, Jon, for putting this together. Let’s go to work.

This is one of the best leadership books I’ve read, especially for law enforcement and military professionals. It clearly breaks down how culture drives everything, performance, accountability, trust, and long-term success. The author uses real world examples that helped me remember the concepts and principles. If you’re serious about building a strong, resilient organization, this book is a must. Should be a MANDATORY read for anyone wishing to promote or for those who are part of an elite unit.

A must read!

Have a highlighter and page markers ready for taking notes. There's plenty here to study and take action on for any team.

Excellent book and easy read. Gives great examples for real life situations and scenarios.

Becker addresses a core factor driving the performance of most any team – namely the culture of the broader organization.  Many have incorrectly attributed Peter Drucker with the quote: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”  While not a true Druckerism, it is nonetheless true.  Jon’s book outlines 9 practices to create a dynamite culture within an organization.  The principles emerge from his first-hand observation of elite teams in policing and the military, but they are equally applicable to for-profit and not-for profit organizations.  This is a must read for any leader looking to create a culture that supports high performing organizations

In this extraordinarily important book, Jon Becker shows readers how to intentionally build a culture that reaches the highest performance. Culture is the organizational operating system and Becker entertains while he shows leaders how to execute at an elite level. A must read.

Culture First is a no-excuses guide to building teams that win when it counts. Becker makes the point plain: culture isn't a slogan—it's the operating system that drives standards, decisions, trust, and accountability under pressure. Clear, actionable, and built for leaders who want results, this book shows you how to set the bar, reinforce the right behaviors, and make excellence non-negotiable.