Culture Is Not Optional. Wake Up, Organizations.

Your culture is what you allow. What you reward. What you ignore. Many leaders dismiss culture as a soft concept. That is a dangerous mistake.

What Healthy Culture Looks Like

Healthy organizations put people first without neglecting performance. Leaders serve, listen, and guide. They build trust by keeping their word and protecting their teams from needless harm. In these cultures, employees speak up without fear, share ideas freely, and support each other. Teams work together because they believe the organization works for them as much as they work for it.

Trust, fairness, and service are not extras. They are the foundation of resilience. When leaders model integrity and live by the values they preach, morale rises. Turnover drops. Creativity grows.

What Toxic Culture Looks Like

When profit is the only goal, culture begins to decay. Employees feel like disposable tools. Corners get cut. Fear and exhaustion set in.

• Wells Fargo chased aggressive cross-selling targets until employees, under pressure, opened millions of unauthorized accounts. The fallout included massive fines, public disgrace, and broken trust with customers and staff (The New Yorker, 2016).

• Chipotle was once a model for service and care. That changed when efficiency and profit took priority over people. Training declined. Turnover reached 194 percent. The company paid millions in labor violation settlements. A culture that once inspired loyalty became one that drove people away (Business Insider, August 2025).

• Enron turned profit into an idol. Executives manipulated accounts, deceived investors, and destroyed livelihoods. When the collapse came, it wiped out pensions, jobs, and credibility. The culture was so toxic it demanded dishonesty as a condition for success (Britannica; Investopedia).

These disasters were not accidents. They were the harvest of cultures that valued profit over people.

A Biblical Rebuke for Modern Leadership

Jesus rebuked leaders who used their power to burden others while preserving their own comfort. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites” (Matthew 23). The warning is the same today. If you protect profits at the expense of people, your leadership is broken.

Culture is not your mission statement. Culture is what happens when no one is watching.

What You Must Do Now

• Tell the truth. If your numbers look good but your people are burned out, you are failing.
• Serve your people. Protect their time, give them the tools they need, and recognize their value.
• Live your values. Let every decision show you mean what you say.
• Protect integrity over quick gains. Profits will follow when you lead with principle.

If you lead like Christ, you will put people before pride and service before self. Culture will strengthen. People will thrive. Your organization will endure.

References:

Business Insider. (2025, August). How Chipotle’s “dream gig” became a nightmare for many employees. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/chipotle-dream-gig-employees-burrito-blues-fast-food-2025-8

Britannica. (n.d.). Enron scandal. In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Enron-scandal

Goh, S.-K., & Low, B. Z.-J. (2013). The influence of servant leadership towards organizational commitment: The mediating role of trust in leaders. International Journal of Business and Management, 9(1), 17–25. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v9n1p17

Investopedia. (n.d.). Enron scandal summary. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/updates/enron-scandal-summary/

Liu, X. (2023). How ethical leadership promotes innovative behaviors via psychological safety and engagement. Sustainability, 15(13), 10382. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310382

Metwally, D. (2019). How ethical leadership enhances readiness to change via organizational culture. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 32(2), 213–240. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-12-2017-0491

The New Yorker. (2016, September). Elizabeth Warren and the Wells Fargo scam. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/elizabeth-warren-and-the-wells-fargo-scam