Culture will decide which organisations survive the next five years

 

I’ve spent the last few months in rooms with business leaders from across Hull and East Yorkshire, private sector, third sector, SMEs, large employers, infrastructure organisations. All with the same pressures, same anxiety, same questions, rising costs, shifting employment law, national Minimum Wage increases. 

 

We live in fragile times, where workforces are multi-generational, multi-cultural, and more neurodiverse than ever, demanding more and far less willing to tolerate leadership that doesn’t feel human, fair, or purposeful. What’s struck me most isn’t the scale of the challenge. It’s how differently leaders respond to it. 

 

In the private sector, pressure often triggers a familiar reflex: tighten control, add layers, squeeze productivity, double down on targets. 

 

In the third sector, that approach simply doesn’t work. Charities are pure service providers. We don’t have pricing power. We can’t quietly add a few pence to cover inflation. Our income streams are fragile, restricted, and often unpredictable. When costs rise, there’s no safety valve, and yet — the good ones endure. 

 

They endure because charity CEOs are forced to lead differently. Not by choice. By necessity. They have to be resilient, because funding can disappear overnight. Responsive, because demand doesn’t politely wait, innovative, because “we’ve always done it this way” is a luxury we can’t afford and agile, because failure isn’t theoretical — services stop, people lose support, communities feel it. That pressure forges a very particular kind of leadership. And it’s one the private sector would do well to study. 

 

So, here’s my reflection working in a region built on resilience and reinvention, I’ve learned something the hard way. When pressure hits, the only thing that moves fast enough is people, not structures, not strategies, not spreadsheets, people. 

 

But people only move with you when they trust you, believe in the mission, and feel the culture is fair, values-led, and consistent. I’ve seen organisations with strong finances brought to their knees by cultural failure. And I’ve seen organisations under relentless financial pressure survive, even grow, because their culture held, you cannot spreadsheet your way out of a broken culture. 

 

In leadership circles, we still talk about finance as if it’s the strategy. It isn’t. It’s the outcome. 

The most resilient organisations I see, charity and commercial, operate a balanced scorecard, whether formally or instinctively, financial sustainability, people and culture, quality of product or service and reputation and trust 

 

Charities live and die by this balance. Lose trust, quality, or culture — and the income follows it out of the door. There is no buffer. Private-sector organisations often have more margin for error. The danger is assuming that margin will always exist, it won’t. 

 

Our region is rich in ambition. We have global energy projects, world-class logistics, manufacturing heritage, innovative SMEs, and a growing sense of confidence about our future. What will differentiate organisations here won’t be who talks loudest about growth or efficiency. It will be who builds workplaces people want to stay in, leadership people trust under pressure, brands that behave well when it’s hard, organisations that understand their role in society, not just the market. 

 

Culture-first organisations aren’t soft. They’re fast. They make better decisions closer to the frontline. They innovate because people feel safe to think. They respond quicker because trust already exists. And here’s the quiet truth leaders rarely say out loud, when you get that right, the money usually behaves. Values aren’t decoration, they’re infrastructure, a culture-first organisation isn’t about slogans, posters, or values written in reception. It’s about how decisions are made when budgets are tight, performance dips, behaviour needs challenging or trade-offs are unavoidable Strong values create clarity. They tell people what matters, what doesn’t, and what will never be compromised. 

 

In the third sector, mission and purpose aren’t branding exercises, they’re operational tools. They help leaders decide what to stop doing, not just what to start. That’s a discipline every CEO needs right now. 

 

A challenge to leaders across our region, this isn’t about charity versus commerce, it’s not about profit versus purpose and it’s certainly not about how much money you turn over. 

 

It’s about leadership maturity, be the best version of yourself as a leader. Build organisations where trust isn’t rationed. Let values guide behaviour, not just marketing. Design culture intentionally or accept the one you get by default. 

 

Because in the next five years, the organisations that survive and thrive in Hull and East Yorkshire won’t simply be the most efficient or the most aggressive. They’ll be the most human, the most trusted, and the most connected — to their people, their sector, and their society. 

 

And that, quietly, is the real competitive advantage.