Crisis Doesn’t Break Culture. It Exposes It.

I’ll never forget walking into an organization three months after the shutdown.
Leaders were exhausted.
Teams were scattered.
The entire system felt stretched thin.

But what stood out wasn’t the crisis itself.
It was the clarity it delivered.

Some teams rose with resilience and generosity.
Others fractured under pressure.
Some leaders became more human.
Others became more distant, more reactive, more controlling.

That’s when it hit me:
Crisis doesn’t break culture. It exposes it.

Pressure reveals what was already there.
The cracks you ignored.
The avoidance you rationalized.
The weak leadership muscles you never strengthened.
The trust you assumed you had but didn’t.

Crisis uncovers the truth about your cultural foundation.
Did people feel safe?
Did communication stay steady?
Did leaders stay present?
Did values hold or collapse?

Strong cultures don’t avoid disruption — they activate during it.
They move in alignment.
They protect one another.
They stay connected even when everything else is uncertain.

Weak cultures show their fragility fast.
Blame rises.
Silence spreads.
Energy collapses.
People retreat into survival mode because they don’t trust the system to hold them.

Crisis is a spotlight.
It shines on the areas leaders neglected, tolerated, or postponed.
And it also reveals the areas worth celebrating — where courage, clarity, and commitment were already in place.

If you want a culture that stands firm in the next disruption — not because it’s perfect, but because it’s strong — explore my new book, The Making of a Strong Culture: Intentional Organizations