In brief
- Getting to Level 3 doesn’t mean bad behavior goes away. People still bring their habits to work.
- What changes is that the behavior is measured against a standard the company wrote, so it gets caught and corrected the same way every time.
- That’s the difference between a managed culture and an unmanaged one.
When leaders hear that naming their culture moves them to Level 3, a reasonable question follows: so then we won’t have toxic behavior anymore?
You will. I want to be honest about that up front, because a company that expects the problems to disappear will be disappointed, and probably stop doing the work.
Every person who joins your company arrives with their own idea of what good behavior looks like. It was shaped by how they were raised, where they’ve worked and what they’ve seen tolerated before. Nobody shows up with your standard already installed. So the same behaviors that show up at Level 1 and Level 2 will show up at Level 3, too. What’s different is what happens next.
One behavior, three levels
Take something ordinary. In a team meeting, someone keeps cutting off a newer coworker and dismissing her ideas. Here’s how that plays out depending on where the company sits on the Toxic Culture Pyramid™.
| What happens | Why |
|---|
| Level 1: the law | Nothing, unless it turns into harassment | It isn’t against policy |
| Level 2: whoever is in the room | Depends on the manager. One steps in, another lets it go | Each manager is using their own standard |
| Level 3: the company’s identity | The manager names it and redirects it, the same way any manager would | The behavior goes against how the company has said people work together here |
The behavior is identical in all three. What changes is whether there’s a standard to hold it against, and whether that standard belongs to the company.
What “managed” actually means
Managed doesn’t mean perfect. It doesn’t mean nobody ever behaves badly. It means three things are true.
The standard is visible. People can describe how the company expects them to work and treat each other, in plain words, without pointing to the handbook. That’s what turning values into behaviors gives you.
Behavior gets caught early. Because the standard is shared, people notice when something’s off before it becomes a pattern. A manager doesn’t have to wait for a complaint to say something.
It’s handled the same way no matter who’s involved. This is the hardest one. A culture is only managed if the standard applies to the top performer, the long-tenured leader and the person everyone likes. I write more about that test in There’s No Such Thing as a Non-Toxic Culture.
Your strengths need managing too
There’s a second reason Level 3 still has to manage against toxic behavior, and it’s one most leaders don’t see coming.
Every company personality has a strength, and every strength has a shadow. A company that prizes speed can start rewarding people who cut corners. A company that prizes care can start avoiding hard conversations because nobody wants to hurt anyone. The behavior that becomes a problem often isn’t the opposite of your culture. It’s your culture, overdone. I explain that in Your Company’s Biggest Strength Is Also Its Blind Spot.
That’s why naming your personality matters so much. When you know your strength, you also know where it’s likely to tip over, and you can watch for it on purpose.
Managing is a verb
The word I keep coming back to is managing. It’s something a company does, every day, not a status it reaches once.
It shows up in who gets hired, how people are onboarded, what gets said in reviews and which behavior gets addressed. When managers have the company’s own language for what good looks like, and for what too little and too much look like, they don’t have to invent a standard on the spot. I wrote about that language in AI Didn’t Break Your Performance Reviews. It Exposed What Was Missing.
The verdict
Level 3 isn’t a company without problems. It’s a company that knows what it’s measuring problems against.
That’s a more realistic goal, and a more useful one. You can’t screen every habit out of every hire. You can give your company a standard that’s clear enough for everyone to see, specific enough for managers to use and fair enough to apply to everyone. When that’s in place, toxic behavior still shows up. It just doesn’t get to stay.
Questions worth asking
- If someone behaved badly in a meeting tomorrow, would every manager in your company handle it the same way?
- Do you know which of your company’s strengths is most likely to turn into a problem?
- Is there anyone in your company the standard doesn’t really apply to?
Read next: Your Culture Has a Default Setting
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a managed and an unmanaged culture?
In an unmanaged culture, behavior that goes against what the company says it is goes unaddressed, or gets handled differently depending on who’s involved. In a managed culture, it’s measured against a standard the company wrote and handled the same way every time.
Do good companies have toxic behavior?
Yes. Every company does, because every person brings their own habits to work. Good companies catch it and correct it against a clear standard.
Can a company’s strengths become toxic?
They can. A strength pushed too far becomes a problem, like speed turning into cutting corners, or care turning into avoiding hard conversations.
What does it take to manage a culture?
A standard people can see, managers who can name behavior early, and the willingness to apply the standard to everyone, including top performers.
