Year Three: Where Culture is Tested

The first year of a turnaround is adrenaline.

Standards rise.

Energy rises.

Hope returns.

The second year is momentum.

Belief deepens.

Results follow.

Expectations grow.

But year three?

Year three is different.

There’s no dramatic contrast anymore. This is just who you are now.

And that’s where I learned something the hard way.

Turning something around is not the same as sustaining it.

Early in my career, I was strong in the reset.

I could see what needed to change.

I could articulate it.

I could demand it.

And for a while, that clarity carried everything.

But culture doesn’t only need clarity.

It needs oxygen.

When momentum becomes normal, communication has to increase — not decrease.

When standards are established, relational investment has to deepen — not level off.

I didn’t always adjust quickly enough.

I assumed silence meant alignment.

I assumed success meant stability.

I assumed people felt as connected as I did.

Sometimes they didn’t.

And when people begin withdrawing quietly, you don’t feel it at first.

You just feel blindsided later.

Year three isn’t about intensity.

It’s about intentionality.

Turning something around proves capacity.

Sustaining it proves maturity.

And that maturity is tested most when everything appears to be working.