The High Cost of Unhealthy Culture
When culture problems reach a certain level of complexity, they usually require more than advice or a random team building activity.
They require thoughtful strategy, consistent support, and a process that the organization can rely on long after the immediate problems are solved at the root.
Welcome back to the show. I am Marcia Beckner. I’m so glad you’re here.
If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the last episode in this START HERE series, please go back and listen at CultureCARES.com/26.
You’ll get all the backstory on who I am and why I do what I do with nonprofit organizations.
This episode is all about what it’s like to work with me.
Usually when nonprofit leaders reach out to me, it’s because they’re describing a very specific problem that has suddenly become urgent.
Sometimes it’s an HR investigation that has escalated and sometimes the board is worried about legal or reputational risk from a situation getting out of hand.
Other times it’s a growing tension inside the team where the leadership team isn’t backing you up.
There are other problems, like people are frustrated with each other or the vibe in the office feels off.
You see people at a table not talking to each other and meetings feel like you’re working with a group of people that are really dreading being there.
What really worries you is that your high performers are tired of working with others in the organization that are bringing people down.
Sometimes the leader describes something more personal. They tell me they’re not sure if they are the right leader for the organization in its next stage of growth.
They feel like they’re constantly reacting to situations when they’d rather be focused on vision, strategy, and connecting the dots between policy and community impact.
They talk about needing help with difficult conversations because they’re afraid to disappoint someone or afraid to feel misunderstood.
They talk about staff members who are not performing well or behaving in ways that are destructive to the team.
They talk about the weight of responsibility they carry and having to move mountains alone is a common feeling.
Underneath all of those conversations, there is a quiet realization that they feel like things have gotten out of control.
Moving from Default to Intentional Design
What we often discover fairly quickly when we begin talking is that these situations are rarely isolated incidents.
They are signals. They are patterns that the culture of the organization has been evolving on its own, rather than being intentionally designed.
When the culture develops by default, even very strong organizations start to experience strain over time.
Eventually the signal gets louder and sometimes these people complaints turn into HR investigations or regrettable turnover.
That can cost up to 200% of a person’s annual salary. Think about that.
Turnover is highly expensive and it’s a risk that nonprofit leaders really need to take seriously.
Sometimes they create reputational risk when the board is concerned that external donors and funders are seeing high profile turnover.
Funders can really sense internal dysfunction and they will start to back off, which is a very high risk for an organization.
This is why culture is not a nice to have. I will die on this mountaintop. It’s an operational issue and a financial issue.
I believe that 99% of your success depends on your people. Culture is your growth engine.
When culture is unhealthy, organizations lose enormous energy, time, and money through burnout, disengagement, turnover, and internal conflict.
When your culture becomes healthy, inclusive, and intentional, something very different happens.
Leaders regain clarity and confidence. Teams collaborate easily, and the organization begins moving forward with real momentum.
Donors notice the stability. Partners notice it, and people can feel when a team is rowing in the same direction.
Strengthening the Executive Foundation
The primary way I support leaders through this work is through a five month mentoring program called the Culture Cares Accelerator.
It is not a workshop or traditional coaching. It is a structured executive mentoring process where we work to stabilize leadership and measure culture honestly.
When culture problems reach a certain level of complexity, they require strategy and a process that lasts after the immediate problems are solved.
Interestingly, the first place we begin is not with the staff or with the systems. We begin with the executive director and the CEO.
Nonprofit CEOs and eds carry such a high responsibility that they often lack a confidential place where they can step back and think strategically.
So many leaders tell me privately that they feel alone in their role. They wonder who they can vent to, but it’s also about problem solving.
The reality of being the person ultimately responsible for the organization and the community impact is very isolating.
Every decision carries weight and every personnel situation has ripple effects across the team.
Many leaders feel like they need to appear confident even when they are quietly trying to figure out the best way forward, alone.
That’s why the confidential nature of this partnership matters so much.
Inside the Culture Cares Accelerator, there is space to talk honestly about the decisions and conversations that feel difficult.
We talk through those situations together before they happen, thinking through what is best for the health of the entire organization.
That perspective often changes everything. Instead of feeling like they’re guessing through the dark, they begin to make decisions with intention.
Within the first couple moments of our work together, I often hear that they feel like a different person, both personally and professionally.
Their family members see a calmer, less stressed version of themselves, and their board notices they are operating with more clarity and courage.
They discover feeling calmer on the inside and stop replaying conversations in their head at night wondering if they handled something poorly.
The CARES Framework and Results
First, we focus on the leader and help them stop spinning out and set healthy boundaries because everything is a ripple effect from that leader.
Together we work on assessing your strengths, your motivators, your communication style, and your preferences to recenter you.
Then we do an energy audit. We figure out where is energy leaking where it shouldn’t be?
Oftentimes leaders will say it is just faster to do it themselves. That’s an energy leak.
You’ll learn how to take your hands off of tasks and delegate effectively to free up mental space and recalibrate your workload.
Once the leader feels grounded, we turn to the team and the culture through the Culture Cares process.
We activate a simple system to gather staff input. Your people will enjoy collaborating again and develop a sense of belonging.
The CARES framework is an acronym for commitment, appreciation, respect, engagement and safety.
Picture it like a pyramid, like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. I’m an organizational psychology major, so I’ve always been a geek around what makes people tick.
The C is for commitment, the peak of the pyramid, representing a culture of accountability where everyone shares ownership.
The A is a culture of connection, a way of recognizing and valuing people so they feel respected and appreciated at work.
At the center is R for respect, which is a culture of inclusion and belonging where everything else reverberates and works stronger.
E is engagement, a culture of learning and growth where people are motivated to advance and work for a cause they are passionate about.
The base of the pyramid is S for safety, which is psychological safety. This is the most important level because people must feel safe to do their best work.
We start by measuring this with a 27 point anonymous assessment to get honest feedback and see the baseline with no judgment.
After we aggregate the data, we share it with the staff transparently and co-create a 90 day roadmap going forward.
Usually within 90 days, you can get so much done with a focus on changing culture proactively and intentionally.
I recently worked with an organization where people weren’t talking and the workplace was toxic. The CEO doubted he could fix it.
We partnered together and within months he felt like a different person because we worked on those internal self-doubt and people-pleasing tendencies.
We realized one or two people were dragging down a 15 person team to the point where others were calling in sick to avoid them.
We worked through a performance improvement plan, let that person go, and the rest of the staff felt such relief.
Having a partner to walk you through those difficult conversations where you’re afraid of being misunderstood is so key.
By the holiday party, he told me everyone was happy to be there and he had literally no people problems anymore.
He was sitting on his hands wondering what to do with his time because he wasn’t fighting fires, allowing him to focus on big strategic partnerships.
This happens in every organization that applies these frameworks. It is not a one-off result.
If this sounds like you, I invite you to the next episode where a client will walk us through what it’s really like to partner with me.
Spoiler alert: they hit their $20 million fundraising goal two months early.
Thank you for spending part of your day with me. Remember, you are meant for great things and you don’t have to burn out to prove it.