In this episode of the Leadership Quotient Podcast, Dr. Phillip Meade, COO of Gallaher Edge, shares why the difference between a “good” culture and an effective culture can be the difference between success and catastrophe. Drawing from his experience leading the cultural transformation at NASA after the Columbia accident, Phillip unpacks the three pillars of an effective culture—driving employee engagement, improving people’s lives, and enabling mission or market success—and how the wrong psychological pressures can quietly distort decision-making, even in high-performing organizations. He discusses how defensiveness and “save the program” thinking show up in investor-backed environments, why leaders must intentionally design culture around strategy rather than perks, and how tools like normalizing dissent, restructuring decision rights, and building self-awareness can help private equity firms and their portfolio companies turn culture into a true driver of value creation.