Let’s get brutally honest: “Nice” is killing your bank.

While you’re hosting cupcake Fridays and upgrading breakrooms, your margins are bleeding. Everyone’s smiling, but nothing’s changing. Meetings are cordial. Performance reviews are mush. No one’s getting called out. No one’s leveling up. But hey, at least people like each other, right?

Wrong.

Nice isn’t your friend. Nice is the silent assassin of your profits.

One bank came to us wearing the “friendly and reliable” badge like armor—while profits bled out the back door. What they really had was a culture of evasion dressed up in customer service scores.

We blew it up.

We built a system where team members knew how to win—and then asked them to prove it. Results? 
→ Profits doubled 
→ Turnover cratered by 40% 
→ People finally felt alive again at work

You don’t need cheerleaders. You need truth-tellers. 
You don’t need more recognition programs. You need real wins.

Because when people win—and know they’re winning—everything changes.

So here’s the question: Are you running a performance culture or a social club with a charter?

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Well, let’s be clear—mediocre culture doesn’t just eat strategy… it chews up your margins too.

Let me give you a behind-the-scenes example. One community bank had top-tier service scores and a sterling reputation in their region for being friendly and reliable.

But the numbers told a different story.

They were bleeding profits. Not because customers were unhappy—but because employees were trapped in a culture of avoidance. Managers hesitated to hold anyone accountable. Performance reviews were vague. Everyone smiled in meetings… but nothing changed.

And when we asked about their culture?
They said, “It’s nice here.”
Well, “nice” doesn’t pay the bills.

They’d already tried the usual Band-Aids—employee recognition programs, motivational speakers, even a breakroom makeover. None of it addressed the real issue: a lack of a culture that rewards performance and tells the truth about what’s not working.

We helped them rebuild from the inside out.

We started with deep, experiential learning where employees discovered how to serve customers in ways that never felt like sales. Only after people were winning did we layer in performance metrics.

Because listen—if someone is accountable to a number they don’t know how to hit, that’s just setting them up to fail.

So what happened?

Twelve months later:

• Profits doubled.
• Voluntary turnover dropped by 40%.
• Engagement scores shot up.

But more importantly… people were winning.
They were creating results—and they knew it.

That’s the game worth playing.