In our first conversation, Dan Srbinovski and I explored what sustained pressure does to leaders.
Dan is the COO and CHRO of Accuserve, operating inside a high-growth, private equity-backed environment. Over the past few months, we’ve been comparing notes from opposite sides of the table: Dan as an operator inside high-pressure organizations, and me as a strategic advisor working across them.
In this conversation, we extend that discussion beyond the individual leader to what sustained pressure does to culture.
Before we dig in, it’s worth acknowledging that culture is slippery. We often think of it as values on a wall, mission statements, off-sites, and awards. It’s fair to say that those are all components, but none of them fully define culture.
Culture lives in the unspoken: what gets avoided, who gets heard, how decisions actually get made, what gets rewarded, and what quietly gets shut down.
And culture is constantly being created in small moments, especially under pressure.
Starla: Last time, we talked about what pressure does to the individual. This time, I want to shift to culture. What does pressure actually do to an organization?
Dan: Culture is hard to define. People say, we have a great culture, or this is our culture. I don’t know that you can define it that cleanly.
To me, it’s what you believe in and whether you’re actually living it day to day.
Starla: Absolutely. I think that’s one of the reasons why people roll their eyes when they hear about values or mission statements. Without action to back it up, they are empty. Culture is about how people behave when it matters.
I think organizations struggle with culture because it’s hard to grasp. It’s almost like an undercurrent, a set of assumptions that are hard to name but easy to feel.
Dan: And very easy to break.
You can say you’re collaborative, but when pressure ramps up, if a leader stops listening and just starts making decisions on their own, that’s where culture fractures. And that happens fast.
Starla: That’s interesting, because it suggests culture isn’t really tested when things are going well.
Dan: It’s not.
When everything’s working, culture is easy. It’s easy to be collaborative, to give people time, to support each other.
Pressure is what reveals it. That’s when leaders decide whether they’re actually going to live what they say they believe.
Starla: Leaders say they value collaboration, candor, alignment. But under pressure, those are often the first things to go. Why?
Dan: Because they don’t feel like they have time.
Pressure comes with deliverables. Deliverables come with deadlines. And in that moment, collaboration feels like a luxury. Leaders think, I just need to make a decision and move.
What they miss is that slowing down often leads to a better outcome. And culturally, people start to notice when collaboration disappears the moment pressure rises.
Starla: Right, because culture isn’t built from what leaders say in stable moments. It’s built from what people experience repeatedly under pressure.
And there’s another dynamic I see a lot. Sometimes leaders avoid collaboration because they don’t know what to do with all the voices.
If you bring people in, you’re going to get different opinions, dissent, and perspectives you may not know how to synthesize. That can feel harder than just deciding on your own.
Dan: Underneath a lot of that is fear. Do I lose control if I open this up? What happens if I don’t have the answer?
Insecurity, especially under pressure, can lead leaders to think, “I’m the one who’s supposed to know. I’m the one who’s supposed to decide.”
Starla: I think there’s something about the “rugged individualist” mentality in American business culture that sends an implicit message that strong leadership means being decisive and getting to an answer quickly, especially under pressure.
Dan: Exactly. So they default to making the call themselves instead of using the team around them.
But that’s why you have a team. To challenge you, fill gaps, and bring perspectives you don’t have.
And over time, people start adapting to whatever behavior gets rewarded. If leaders stop inviting challenge or dissent, eventually people stop offering it.
Starla: Which is interesting, because under pressure, leaders often narrow perspective at the exact moment they most need diversification of thought.
Dan: That’s right. And underneath a lot of that is fear.
Fear that if someone else has the better idea, it says something about your capability as a leader. So instead of building on strong ideas, leaders start protecting ownership.
Starla: Which shifts the culture. The conversation stops being about the best outcome and becomes about who gets credit, who has authority, and who controls the decision.
Dan: Exactly. And once that happens consistently, people adapt to it. They stop sharing as openly. They become more guarded, more political, more territorial, because they’re managing risk now instead of contributing ideas.
Starla: And then the culture starts reinforcing itself. Organizations reward leaders who operate that way, promote them, and hire more people who fit that environment.
Dan: Completely. And the problem is, most of this happens gradually.
Nobody walks into work intending to create a guarded culture where people stop speaking openly. But under sustained pressure, people start optimizing for self-protection instead of collective outcomes.
And that changes culture very quickly.
Starla: So what happens when someone realizes they’re in a culture that doesn’t fit them?
Dan: You basically have three options. You can try to change it. You can leave. Or you can stay and adapt to it.
But if it’s not aligned with how you operate, you’re not going to perform at your best.
Starla: Which is why cultural fit is often misunderstood.
It isn’t an indictment of the person or the organization. It’s about alignment.
I think about it a lot like personal relationships. There are people we naturally click with and people we don’t. No one is wrong, it’s just not a fit.
Dan: That’s right. You can have someone with incredible skills who still won’t succeed in a particular culture. And if you leave them in that environment too long, they start questioning themselves. They think, maybe I’m not capable anymore, when really it’s just the wrong fit.
Starla: Can one person actually change culture?
Dan: Not broadly. But they can change it locally.
You start with your own team. You model something different. And if it works, other people start to notice.
Culture spreads that way. Not all at once, but through repeated behaviors over time.
Starla: Let’s go back to pressure for a minute. When things heat up, what gets deprioritized first?
Dan: Usually the things leaders can’t immediately tie to short-term results: development, investment in people, collaboration.
Those things suddenly start feeling optional.
But that’s actually when culture is most vulnerable. People watch those moments closely. They’re deciding whether they matter, or whether they’re just there to deliver results.
And your best people feel that first.
Starla: So it’s not really a tradeoff between performance and people.
Dan: It’s not. It feels like one in the short term, but it shows up in performance over time.
If people stop feeling valued, the people who have options leave first.
And once that starts happening, culture changes very quickly.
Starla: Last question. If you were talking with a leader in a pivotal moment where speed matters, expectations are high, and involving others will slow things down, what advice would you give them?
Dan: Set expectations early.
Most problems happen because expectations aren’t clear.
If something is going to take two weeks instead of one, you say that upfront. You explain why. You explain what they’ll get as a result.
If you don’t, people create their own timelines. And then you’re already behind in their mind.
Starla: So instead of reacting later, you’re shaping the expectation from the beginning.
Dan: Exactly. And you’re showing your work. You’re not just saying, it’ll take longer. You’re explaining what goes into it.
Because sometimes people will say, we don’t need all of that. And now you’ve aligned on what matters.
Starla: Which ultimately allows you to move faster, not slower.
Dan: That’s the part people miss.
Starla: It’s interesting. The conversation keeps coming back to the same idea.Pressure doesn’t just test performance. It reveals culture.
Dan: It also reveals leadership.
People remember what leaders do under pressure. They remember how decisions were made, whether they felt heard, and whether values actually held.
That’s what shapes culture long after the pressure passes.
Starla Sireno is recognized as one of the top executive coaches in NYC. Starla is in the business of transforming executives into better leaders and better humans. Inquire how to work with Starla or her team.