The most hopeful level is also the most frustrating. Here’s why.
When I interviewed Andrew Sewnauth, President and CEO of CDS Life Transitions, for The Power of Being All In, he said something that stopped me cold. “Companies that don’t take time to invest in their employees pay an even greater price.”
He wasn’t speaking theoretically. He was describing what his own organization had lived through. In the wake of the pandemic, talent had become harder to find and harder to keep. The people who were available had needs that organizations had rarely entertained before. And the companies that hadn’t built genuine investment into their cultures — the ones that had good intentions but inconsistent follow-through — were paying the price in turnover, disengagement, and lost momentum.
Andrew’s comment was telling. He reimplemented a leadership development program. He opened communication lines so more people understood the organization’s goals. He began meeting more deliberately with his team. And he reflected honestly on where he could have done better: being more transparent with his people sooner. “Employees don’t mind bad news,” he told me. “They mind when it’s kept from them.”
What Sewnauth was describing, whether he used these words or not, was an organization working its way out of a Points of Light culture. There were good people. There was genuine commitment in pockets. But the infrastructure to sustain and grow that commitment hadn’t been built thoroughly enough, and the best people were feeling it.
That is the defining tension of Level 3. The points of light are real. So is the darkness around it.
What Makes Level 3 Different
The Level 3 culture is the first place in this cultural model where something genuinely important is happening. Here for the first time, there are a number of individuals in the organization who have personally aligned with the company mission and values. They are not just doing their jobs. They care about the outcome. They are growing as leaders. In pockets of the organization, you can feel the difference.
This is meaningful progress from Levels 1 and 2, and it should not be dismissed lightly. But here is what the Points of Light culture has not yet accomplished: it has not made that commitment the norm. The bright spots exist, but they are isolated. Most of the organization is still operating the way it always has, doing the job and going home, waiting to be told what to do next. The ecosystem of compliance remains alive and well.
The azimuth exists in a Points of Light culture, but it is not well understood. There is probably a viable mission statement, and it is perhaps more well-defined than what you’d find at Levels 1 and 2. But it still doesn’t tell people clearly enough who we are, what we do, and most importantly, why it matters. Expected behaviors are assumed rather than defined. Leaders believe people understand the values because no one has raised a hand to say they don’t. That assumption creates costly gaps.
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Enjoy the journey!
