The culture had unmistakable cult-like energy—constant “we believe” rhetoric, people clutching pocket-sized Constitutions, and sincere discussions about reading them to their kids at bedtime. Day-to-day work was suffocated by red tape, relentless micro-management, and an obsession with approved language and so-called principle-based management that was incoherent and impractical in execution. Transparency, mutual benefit, and a “bottom-up” culture were endlessly advertised but completely absent in reality.
From a senior management perspective, the environment was defined by back-channeling, quiet sabotage, and performative collaboration, with little clarity around expectations, virtually no meaningful feedback, and wins that vanished without acknowledgment. An overgrown middle-management layer added bureaucracy without value—lots of inflated titles, minimal qualifications, and even less impact. The atmosphere was so tense and disengaged that I would routinely go days without anyone even saying hello.
I see on this Glassdoor reviews page that Stand Together occasionally responses to reviews and invites further discussion to provide clarity or explain concerns. I tried to do exactly that while I was there and was consistently shut down. Being invited to have that conversation now is far too late—and feels disingenuous at best. Ultimately, success required either fully drinking the Kool-Aid—or becoming very good at pretending you had.