50 | Group Practice Culture: Why Only the Bad One Builds Itself

Every therapy practice already has a culture. The only question is whether anyone chose it, because the one that builds itself gets built out of your temperament rather than your values. Laura Bull and Steph Davis built their group practice in reaction to one they left badly, and spent years finding out what that cost. In this conversation they get precise about it: the clinician they let go too early out of fear, the retention rate someone eventually told them was too high, and the moment leadership stopped being a matter of questioning everything about themselves. The distinction underneath it is the useful part. Culture is whatever your people can count on to repeat. Leadership is whether that repetition was chosen — and how the leadership team relates to each other sets the heartbeat everyone else in the building feels. Which is also why a practice with no mess in it is telling you something. ### What's covered - Why building a practice as the opposite of a bad one leaves the bad one still setting your agenda - What it cost to make a staffing decision out of fear, and how they found out a year later - Why a leader who questions everything about herself cannot hold steadiness for anyone else - The reframe that arrived with the numbers: a staff retention rate can be too high, and resentment is what unpriced generosity costs - Culture as what repeats, leadership as whether the repetition was intentional — and why only the unhealthy version builds itself - Why no conflict in a caseload is a clinical finding, and the same reading applies to a team **Timestamps:** 01:04 — How a friendship started, and why the origin story is a culture story 06:01 — Leaving, and the reactive culture that followed them out 08:46 — The staffing decision they made from fear, and the conversation a year later that named it 11:09 — Leading while questioning everything about yourself 13:19 — "Your staff retention rate is too high" 15:38 — What changed when the decisions got grounded in numbers 17:40 — What leadership actually means to each of them 23:38 — Why it isn't leadership if it isn't messy 24:41 — Culture is what repeats. Leadership is whether you chose it. 30:07 — No conflict is a finding, clinically and in a team 32:45 — Together in Practice: what the two days hold **Together in Practice: A Virtual Leadership Summit** October 17 and 24th · two Saturdays · 9:00am–2:00pm Pacific · eight sessions Two days built for practice owners who are past the setup questions. Day one is for solo and group practice owners leading a business and a caseload — retention, sustainability, finances, values. Day two is for group practice owners and the group-practice-curious, with Laura and Steph on culture, Cecilia on sustainability and long-term visioning, and sessions from Elana Sures and Lindsay Bonham. Details and registration: togetherinpractice.ca