Fix BAD Company Culture? (It's Brutal)

Name: Fix BAD Company Culture? (It's Brutal)
Uploaded: 2025-02-24T17:25:00+00:00
Duration: 1 min 18 s
Channel: Jason M. Lemkin
Description: In this monologue, Jason M. Lemkin addresses the common question of how to turn around a toxic or stagnant company culture. He argues that culture cannot…

24 Feb 2025 · 1 min

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1:18

In this monologue, Jason M. Lemkin addresses the common question of how to turn around a toxic or stagnant company culture. He argues that culture cannot be "fixed" through superficial perks, team outings, or mandatory return‑to‑office policies. Instead, Lemkin advises leaders to bring in fresh talent and to decisively let go of jaded, low‑performing employees. He notes that high‑performers will deliver results regardless of location, but mid‑performers tend to underperform when working remotely, prompting leaders to want to supervise them for a full 40‑hour day. Lemkin emphasizes that the real goal is to have a smaller, smarter workforce that wants to be part of the company, rather than a larger group that drags down the culture.

Chapters

How do you turn the company culture around? What do you do tactically? Yeah. I'll tell you, I ask that question to many leaders. I ask it on a lot of the podcasts I do and the interviews I did. And the truth is most driven founders and most sales leaders that are really trying hard, that they're really going for it, they're going to tell you, you can't, you got to bring in new blood. You can't turn it around. I— no one thinks you can, right? There are certain things I talk with leaders and founders behind closed doors, and every— there's certain things they don't say aloud. That they don't say loud that we need people to return to the office because half our company doesn't work. Okay, it doesn't— you don't need return to office for high performers. The best people will get it done. They'll get it done from Antarctica or they'll get it done in the office. But the mid-performers just don't work from home, right? They barely work. And so they, they want to Supervise them for 40 hours. It's not about collaboration, it's about getting any work done. So you can't talk about that. The other thing you can't talk about is like people that are jaded or broken. A little training isn't going to help. Like a team trip to Miami is not going to help. You gotta gently move them out. Like now. You're better with half the employees as smart as you are that all want to be there than folks polluting the culture.