“Work sucks since we’ve been acquired. Everything is about money now.”
Ben, a software engineer at a small tech company that had recently been sold to a large conglomerate, confided this with a mix of frustration and disillusionment.
Requiring Lies
He went on: “We’re now required to log a certain number of hours every week – even if the work didn’t take that long – so the company can bill clients as much as possible.”
Ben shrugged. “It didn’t used to be like this.”
When Deceit Often Starts
Experiences like this tend to show up at pivotal moments in a company’s life — rapid growth, new ownership, merger, etc. Different stakeholders and different priorities change the game.
This too is often when leaders stop treating money as a tool, and start acting like it’s the boss. Which leads to all kinds of compromises, both subtle and dramatic.
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The Slippery Slope: It Starts Small
Inflate your numbers a little to hit the target?
Push an old product that will soon be obsolete?
Make an exception to your policy… just this once, of course?
Each decision feels minor and explainable, which makes the next bigger one easier.
Employees Notice the Shift First
Nobody sends a memo saying ethical compromise and money first is now part of the business model.
The changes are not announced, they’re experienced; and usually never discussed.
Engagement drops — not because employees care less, but because they don’t know what’s going on or why and don’t want to be forced to lie.
Experiential Amare Moment — Do This Now
Think of a time when an organization you were part of, started to change after rapid growth or new pressure.
See if you can recall the first moment something didn’t feel quite right — and how you responded, internally and externally.
Window: Wells Fargo vs. SalesForce
At Wells Fargo, aggressive sales quotas and fear of termination pushed employees to open thousands of accounts without customer approval. The bank got caught.
The CEO resigned, over 5,000 employees were fired, and the company paid more than $3 billion in penalties — proof that when the main metric becomes money, the mission usually loses out.
At Salesforce, revenue grew from $176 million to over $41 billion, yet the company stayed near the top of workplace surveys. As the company scaled, leadership kept emphasizing trust, employee voice, and stakeholder responsibility. Even as financial pressures increased, that discipline kept growth from quietly rewriting the rules.
Research Shows How It Happens
Research on organizational scaling shows that as companies grow, formal controls increase and employees often feel less autonomy, which is linked to lower engagement and higher turnover.
Studies of corporate culture also find that employees take cues less from written values and more from what leaders tolerate under pressure.
When people believe performance matters more than integrity, engagement drops and misconduct becomes more likely.
Mirror — Reflect on Yourself
༄ When has pressure made compromise easier?
༄ What behavior gets tolerated now that would not have before?
༄ If employees spoke freely, what would they say has changed that’s not for the better?
Door Into Action — 7 Amare Steps to Prevent Culture Drift During Growth
1. Say out loud that success creates pressure. Acknowledge when compromise becomes more tempting and model how to deal with it.
2. Ask employees what feels different. Regularly ask what concerns them, and listen without defending.
3. Make it safe to question the numbers. Encourage people to challenge goals or methods – without penalty.
4. Watch the first small compromise. Address minor shifts immediately before they become normalized.
5. Measure trust on purpose. Track engagement and belonging along with financial results.
6. Reward honesty in public. Support employees who raise concerns early.
7. Make decisions that prove values matter. Choose the path of integrity so people know your words matter and the culture is real.
Amare Team Talk Exercise
Ask the team:
“When have we felt the most pressure to compromise our values, and what helped us or made it hard to hold the line?”
Honest answers usually appear quickly. That is where the work is.
Your Inspirational Challenge
Every organization eventually reaches a point where the stakes get higher. More money is involved and the pressure to perform gets louder. That is when compromise can start to seem reasonable.
Employees watch those moments very closely. They decide whether the values are real by noticing what leaders do when the pressure is highest.
Strong leadership shows up when you proclaim, “We are not doing it that way,” even when doing it that way would make short-term results look better.
That is usually the moment people start trusting you again.
You got this.
–Moshe
Today’s Amare Wave Wednesday Quote
“Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation and I will be ruthless.”
—Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway
Click here and read more Amare Wave Wednesday newsletters on related topics:
Why the Best Leaders Measure Success Beyond Profits: Money the Amare Way
How To Improve Your Relationship With Money
4 Ways to Nourish Growth Within You
Leading with Truth in a World of Deepfakes, AI, and Nonstop Disruption
6 Powerful Steps to Lead with Ambition and Not Let Greed Take Charge
Original article published on Inc.com.
