#leadership

Put yourself in LE's shoes and enlighten us as to how yoh would go about doing things for the business to survive

Look at what's happened here over the last decade. Decline after decline. Bad decisions, missed opportunities, leadership that couldn't lead. AT&T is on life support now. Just waiting to see who finally turns off the machines.

I posted my thoughts in a comment awhile back, here's my peon take on the state of things:

MGMT isn't held accountable; escape is just a re-org away.

There's zero vision at the top. JP/BH/GD are not the right guys by any metric. Our sales incentives are aligned such that sales will pressure RnD to continue hunting the same 20 banks with the same multi-year projects. That pressure will force RnD to acquiesce.

CIS continues to be a useless rube goldberg SaaS for ticket generation under their current leader.

All while leadership continues to say that we're looking to get leaner, and deliver at a higher volume etc. etc.

Within RnD we have principal developers who don't know how computers work. When I say this I mean the basics of networking, filesystems, algorithms.

I had Sr Principal dev ask me what DFS was.... this by itself is not the issue, but it certainly points to the issue: people are not held accountable for performance, nor are they expected to improve their technical acumen, and inversely, they are rewarded simply for staying.

IMO:

SAS should strive to be (in part) the AWS of data tools. There should have a simple portal such that customers can input their payment info, click on a given tool, and crank it up according to some set of configurable parameters. It should be seamless.

This will require:

CIS and RnD to merge

a real SRE program inside of the company (it's insane and an indictment of the company that no one I've spoken to in CIS has heard of the term SRE).

us to retain top talent, and purge dead weight.

sas would need to spend cycles reducing service footprint/consolidating services/improving big O performance. several gigs of RAM is insane for a login service. Not to mention the fragmentation of said service.

The same model should be followed for solutions, which means prodman will need to actually learn how to do their job. we have some of the most arrogant, yet ignorant, product managers in the business.

know your domain, know the market, and sell to that market. every solution can't do everything. boutique projects are fine, but that's not gonna move the needle.

there should be pre-configured, highly opinionated, solutions that can be delivered and adding value in under a month.

Curious to see the perspective from people around the company

I'm lost. BD is lost. Can someone tell me what's really going on here?!

This is the worst I've seen it since I started 16 years ago. There is no one steering the ship anymore. If there's still a captain, no one's listening to them. The norm is hurry up and wait. The culture is lies, fear, anxiety, confusion, frustration, and baffling. One good thing I recently heard is that a bunch of higher ups were let go, so someone up top is keen on trimming some of the upper fat. Maybe we will be lucky enough to get more DEI hires to replace them!

Employee morale is so bad and stressed out that the leadership need to bring a therapy dog to make employees feel better.

Also, because of the above point, we are stopping measurement of the employee pulse score until morale improves.

Finally, we are going to delete your-voice slack channel because the leadership team is tired of you whiners.

He barely reads at a 5th grade level.

As our company is going through a tough time, I would like to propose the following ideas for saving costs:

• Pay Stephanie to do nothing. She has already proven that she creates negative value, so ensuring she does nothing will immediately increase the company's value.

• Move Bob to Cognizant, ideally to a low-cost location. This will allow him the opportunity to live the idea.

• Fire all the CTOs. Why do we need useless executives who have been unable to modernize our products for years? Replace them with AI bot. Productivity jump.

• Move Kelly to report to Koushik, so that both eventually leave. Huge savings.

Any idea you would propose?

I just got my total rewards statement plastered with the swollen face of our “HR Chief” bragging about our “total rewards program”. PLEASE!! Pathetic base pay (not tested against market norms since 2019?), finance using merit increases to fund their expense gaps, PATHETIC medical coverage and a “wellness” program that contacted of a few off the shelf apps that do nothing.

Oh - and surprise, we haven’t had a head of total rewards for 2 years, probably because nobody in their right mind would go to work with SM.

Even amidst all the dysfunction among the ELT, I truly can’t believe that SM is still in her role given the complete lack of delivery on basics like this.

Even with her complete disconnection from the reality of her employees, one has to think Penny MUST be cringing whenever SM opens her mouth. I know everyone else is…

While ballistic missiles rained down on our homes, the Intel Israel team woke up and went to the fabs. We coded from bo-b shelters with our kids crying near our homework station. We kept the PTL roadmap alive because we know it is the lifeline of this company right now. We delivered.

And LBT? Total radio silence.

When Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is asked about Israel, he speaks with humanity. He acknowledges his people on the ground. He acts like a leader.

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/technology-science/artc-100-with-israel-nvidia-s-ceo-expands-tech-investment-amid-war

It is easy to demand flawless execution and celebrate roadmap milestones on earnings calls. It is another thing entirely to stand by the engineers and fab workers who are actually securing your future under the threat of war.

Not one word during the entire month. Zero. Now that the Iran war is over, i can honestly say this is an absolute disgrace.

During Chambers' time, there was a very clear strategy and vision: to be number one or two in every product line that Cisco sells, combined with a vision to change the way we live, learn, and play. Today, there is no vision or strategy at Cisco. What is important is to maintain profit margins only. Over the past decade, Cisco has lost significant market share in every product line it sells, and in some of them it has long since ceased to be number one or two.

Dan Hanson, head of Global Client Services in CTD, "retiring from ThermoFisher" effective 4/17

Layoffs and all the nonsense narratives that are spewed on this site have NOTHING to do with stock price. It's all about Medicare reimbursements, gov regulations and to a very small degree public sentiment. A huge amount of our stock is owned by massive mutual fund managers who KNOW it's significantly undervalued. The stock had a perfect storm last year of leadership instability and the gov coming after big insurance. Face it, the mu---r of Brian started a horrific downturn for the company which was roaring at the time. Then public sentiment and government tanked it.
Letting Gl 26's to GL 32's go and hiring offshore doesn't move the scale one bit. Sorry but that narrative is immature and un-insightful.
And ANYONE here who who says they want the company to fail isn't someone who has a career goal or isn't an employee at all.
Now throw all your shade and down arrows at me and call me a boomer but the truth is the truth.

Not waiting for July 1 like the exec chairman stated in today's email. Bounced today. House of Cards starting to fall. Wait until the FY27 plans are shared more broadly. Going to be a lot of unhappy campers.

So after I was laid off last year, I grew a deep seated hatred for my director and manager for my departure. My resentment knew no bounds. I cursed them everyday for sticking me in this godforsaken job market. I imagined them laughing at me and my misery.

After finding nothing for almost 6 months and wishing I was dead and gone, my hatred for my prior leadership still driving me strong, I've come to learn that they were recently dismissed at the beginning of the year and recently today.

I now feel an emptiness I can't describe. All this time hating and letting it drive my passion to surpass them and land a better opportunity, and I now feel like I don't know like I wasted my time wishing them despair. I hate them for putting me in this situation, but now they're in the same boat as me. It feels weird learning that they're gone too from T-Mobile and I don't know anymore.

Pushed or walked?

They just asked us to fund their political agenda. With our own money. 🚨

Leadership held a call with Senior Directors and above asking employees to personally donate to one of the Political Action Committee that Altice USA recommends — that fund lobbying politicians and shape policy to benefit the company.

No reimbursement. Not a single cent back.
What do we get? A virtual badge. And “bragging rights” for the department that donates the most.

They claimed whether we donate or not has no influence on our employment, but I highly doubt that.

So let’s be clear: the company wants US to dig into OUR paychecks to fund THEIR political influence — and the reward is a digital sticker.

It’s really shocking how poorly these work changes are being handled. The lack of coordination, communication and planning is unbelievable. The entire leadership staff should be embarrassed.

There are ongoing concerns about a Southeast team member acting beyond their assigned responsibilities. Multiple customers have reported unprofessional communication, which is negatively affecting client relationships.

Additionally, decisions being made appear to prioritize short-term margin improvements at the expense of customer satisfaction. This is creating unnecessary friction and could impact long-term retention.

It would be helpful to clarify roles, responsibilities, and communication expectations to ensure a consistent and professional experience for clients.

1.) Hire exec. team of highly compensated "friends" to virtue signal
2.) Create us vs 'them' environment
3.) Have numerous employee indoctrination meetings (receive medals)
4.) Spin-off non core businesses
5.) Quarterly lay-offs of 'them'
6.) Complain that Bryan isn't Chairmen of the Board

Rinse and repeat.

At least 80% of tech folks are not working as leadership said months ago that layoffs and reorg are coming. Yet things are still smooth and nothing is on fire.
Zero communication from tech leaders since their phony vague meetings.
Cut them and 80% of tech so we can lower ops cost and wait for some product to pull us out of this.
Embarrassed at how little work there is in tech yet 7k employees and layers upon layers of leadership.
Never forget - AC must go….

First FB and now AR… seems like all the competent leaders that are actually desirable to other companies are jumping ship left and right.

Are they scared the good ole boys will close ranks and bamboozle Meg to squeeze them out anyways? What will become of BP when the only leaders left are the unemployable that incompetently marched down this road like GB, AF, WL, EM, etc….

How do we have an upstream resurgence operating on scraps? Will we finally hire from outside?

Calhoun was Boeing’s CEO up in Seattle. Old Dave put Boeing in a deep hole which they are still in and about put Boeing up on the blocks for good. You know with Calhoun running Nike he will have Nike in the biggest train wreck ever that old Casey Jones the railroad man would have been impressed with.

Isn't interesting that HR just sent out a note today on this in advance of the Townhall tomorrow? Have not seen nor heard much from the CEO or any of the elites in many months. Can't wait to hear how great Gainwell is doing and that they are hiring lots of new people, just like the lies from last year.

What is happening right now is not just a restructuring on paper. It is something people are living through every day, with stress, sadness, confusion, and a growing sense of injustice.

Many of the engineers being impacted are not low performers. They are experienced people who carry years of product knowledge. They know the history, the logic, the complexity, the technical choices, and all the invisible work behind the product. They are the people others turn to when things get difficult. Seeing them leave is painful, and it is hard not to wonder what will be left when so much knowledge walks out the door.

And for those who stay, the situation is not better. They are left with uncertainty, heavier workloads, and the pressure to deliver more than before with fewer people. They are expected to keep moving faster, to build better releases, and to carry on as if nothing fundamental has changed. But something has changed. A lot has changed.

For the past two years, teams have been asking for support. More hiring. Better direction. Clearer product decisions. These concerns were raised again and again. People spoke up because they cared, because they wanted the product to succeed, because they could already see the risks ahead. Today, it feels deeply unfair to watch engineering carry the consequences while the deeper product and strategic issues remain untouched.

There is now a real sense of loss inside the teams. People feel lost. People feel demotivated. People are trying to stay professional, but the truth is that morale has been hit hard. When almost half of an R&D organization is affected, this is not a small adjustment. It changes everything. It changes the atmosphere, the trust, the energy, and the belief people had in what they were building together.

This is not written to attack anyone. It is written to say out loud what many are feeling quietly. You cannot remove so many of the people who know how to build, maintain, and improve a product, then expect the same product to become stronger overnight. You cannot ask the remaining teams to do more with less, with more pressure and less support, and pretend this is a normal situation.

Behind all of this, there are human beings. Engineers who gave years of effort, thought, and commitment. Teams who tried to raise concerns early. People who genuinely cared about the product and where it was going. That is why this hurts so much.

Sometimes the real damage is not visible in a headcount reduction. It is visible in the knowledge lost, the trust broken, and the people left wondering how they are supposed to keep going like this.

Just curious, what percentage of T employees respect and admire John Stankey? I would estimate less than 5%, what do you say?

Tata Consultancy Services faces high senior-level attrition. Exits from top ranks surged to about 16%. This is significantly higher than its historical 4-5% rate. Around 12,000 employees were impacted by workforce reduction. Senior leaders also received low variable pay.

https://www.ndtvprofit.com/business/tata-consultancy-services-faces-high-senior-level-attrition-amid-restructuring-and-compensation-challenges-report-11317142/amp/1

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fhtv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiles%2Foracle-warn-kansas-city-69cd4b2e5582b.pdf%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExTVBSU1c3MDVNMUp5RVZ5b3NydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR4bFUAOGpOS5uZ4V3m4-MODvttg68T_Lc5h9nr-TmmYE7tLUMapEykX8I5vAQ_aem_ML1hYoOnP0b1b-2orRFoIA&h=AT4N2PUgrF0n5I8_6gMTTcM76L32IMvItqOanDIE9zG95RZvu3apWGUTdi9Ihan54cW2rtu7cgjuQ00nnEga7OCKQPK_nsblbVB8Ncv9zqDDBHH80KKyBlBB7iKXJId-J_e-VpkjW6YPMpen23B1uAWRtWhbbg&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT6gHLhORcv-Dq_76Y_Yl-nxRMKH4EhXiV65FCQI5gQlaQz1o3jhwFt0LB9GjyPsX4f3Id6EtJgk4hUvXxusxLgEP6hhaNp9IodonyF8-HQofwWqnKkP8-7ULBH0v_bfn0aGDc02H5Q8uq91ur-08wQkJxsKh6FmhI-qCfhgLuXgnEz7vzc

Think about this.

Most companies, when they see something causing unnecessary stress or friction for employees, try to fix it. Even small things. Shorter commutes, more flexibility, better alignment. It’s basic common sense because it improves morale and productivity.

Here it feels like the exact opposite.

Every decision somehow lands on the option that creates the most friction. The most inconvenience. The most disruption to people’s lives.

Live 10 miles from one office? Doesn’t matter. You’re required to drive 50 miles to another one.
Can do your job perfectly from home? Irrelevant. Be physically present anyway.
Teams are distributed across the country? Still sit in an office on Teams calls.

At some point it stops feeling accidental. It starts to feel like pain is being chosen on purpose.

And then leadership turns around and asks why there’s no culture. Why people aren’t going above the bare minimum anymore. Why morale is gone.

Morale didn’t just disappear. It was worn down decision by decision, policy by policy, until people stopped believing anything would actually improve.

Then you hear “there’s no loyalty anymore” while at the same time wondering why no one shows up to town halls, no one engages, no one cares.

It’s not confusing.

People don’t disengage for no reason. They disengage when they feel ignored, when feedback goes nowhere, and when every decision makes their day-to-day worse.

And yet somehow the expectation is that people should accept all of this, have bad policy shoved down their throats, and then turn around and be grateful for it. After surveys where honest feedback was ignored or worse, scolded.

That’s not just disconnected. It’s delusional.

This didn’t become a bottom-tier culture overnight. It got there because of decisions like this. Because of policies like this.

Culture and morale aren’t things you can slap on a PowerPoint and speak into existence. They’re built by listening, adjusting, and actually giving people a reason to care.

Right now, that reason is gone.

Well, that was fun, more value of the company obliterated in less time then you can chat the GPT. So many mistakes and fumbles...

Countless bad hires
Endless RIFs
Missed Quarters after Quarters (more like Y/Y misses)
Unlimited amount of Fuchsia bad fashion purchased
Mediocre acquisitions
Not retiring but got the BOOT
No longer the all female C-Suite bunchy bunch
Woke beyond belief
Endless RIFs (again... and again..) ± 1,000 people let go or MORE
Hustle in the Bustle
Off Shored Jobs - ±850 or so or MORE
6.2Bil of Value Reduced to 1.9Bil of Value
Precipitous Stock drop - 56% (or more) in two years
Endless more RIFs
Did I say terrible HIRES?

What a legacy, like a pinnacle of a legacy, like an empire of dirt or sand in the Sonoran desert.

At least she learnt how to spell AI

LOLOLOLOL..... Later!

Did Mike Wirth lose his soul before or after becoming CEO? Or was it just traded in for stock options? Asking for everyone currently dealing with the fallout of his 'leadership'. When did he make the deal with the bad dude downstairs?

We keep talking about employees needing to adopt AI tools, but what about the SVPs, VPs, and SDs? How are they being held accountable for adapting to a world powered by AI?

AI opens doors to speed, efficiency, and smarter decision-making. But it also exposes a problem: it lets poor leaders procrastinate, hide while solutions have been obvious for months.

AI can supercharge productivity, but it doesn’t fix leadership inertia. If senior leaders can’t act until forced, no amount of AI will save the organization.

It’s time we start asking: how are we upgrading their skills for the AI era?

The senior leadership in the U.S., particularly the VPs, routinely take credit for the work done by their Indian directors and senior directors. These VPs claim full ownership of projects that their Indian counterparts have actually planned and executed, with no acknowledgment of their efforts.
The VPs have no real understanding of how to effectively execute projects with resources in India and are completely dependent on their Indian directors and senior directors. Despite this reliance, they fail to give the credit where it's due, continuously taking the limelight for work they didn't do. The Indian leaders, who have built strong relationships with their counterparts and teams in India, know how to get the job done efficiently. The VPs, on the other hand, lack the necessary expertise and often sit back while others handle the real work.
Adding insult to injury, the VPs undermine their own directors and senior directors by pretending to be supportive of the India teams. They put on a show, claiming to protect these teams from exploitation, like avoiding late-night meetings, but in reality, they are the ones fostering a toxic environment where credit is stolen, and recognition is denied.
The directors and senior managers are too afraid to speak up, fearing retaliation or career damage. As a result, the VPs continue to bask in the glory of others' hard work, while the real contributors remain unnoticed and unappreciated.
This toxic culture of credit theft and the undermining of competent leadership is a long-standing issue that severely damages morale and fosters an environment of fear. If you’re considering a position here, be aware that your hard work will likely be stolen by those higher up the chain with no recognition for you.
Bottom Line: Look elsewhere if you want a workplace where your contributions are valued and credited, and where real leadership is respected.

The execs keep talking about the need to reduce expenses and are laying people off, yet they are paying over $120 million to get all the agents together in Las Vegas and spending an additional $15 million on incentive trips for said agents. Oh know gas prices increases costing us more…how about cancel the trip?!? Paying for Pink to entertain agents and executives…disgusting!

Most decisions are focused on immediate results. Long-term impact doesn’t seem to ever be a priority. It leads to the same problems coming up again later and more wasted time and resources. Imagine how different things would be if we actually focused on the future and long-term results.

Feels like five managers for every person actually doing anything. Someone told me when I started that one percent of people do ninety nine percent of the work. They were right.

Every time, it’s presented like something new but in reality, not much is actually changing. This is what you get when wrong people who know little about the actual work get into leadership positions. Then we pay for it with our jobs.

Anyone who tells you IBM cares about your career is lying. There's no interest in developing people. None. The only focus is the stock number and the people at the top getting wealthier. Everything else is noise.

What you're dealing with here isn't how it has to be. I went to another big bank and everything is better. Nicer people, working tech, and leaders who actually try.