I've always seen that the true culture of an organization is less of a reflection of what a leader says and more of a reflection of what a leader does. While the team is a good starting point, people in that team can also see the broad strokes of what is happening within 2-3 degrees of separation all around them. They can see behaviors that are being tolerated and rewarded. They can see how their own managers and team leaders are praised or admonished. They can see how much autonomy their own team leaders have. While they may feel that the culture within their teams is great, they will quickly realize if it can be sustained or not. So, while I agree that it starts from within a team, this, I think, falls in the 'necessary but not sufficient' category.
I've always seen that the true culture of an organization is less of a reflection of what a leader says and more of a reflection of what a leader does. While the team is a good starting point, people in that team can also see the broad strokes of what is happening within 2-3 degrees of separation all around them. They can see behaviors that are being tolerated and rewarded. They can see how their own managers and team leaders are praised or admonished. They can see how much autonomy their own team leaders have. While they may feel that the culture within their teams is great, they will quickly realize if it can be sustained or not. So, while I agree that it starts from within a team, this, I think, falls in the 'necessary but not sufficient' category.