When I joined Nike a few years ago, what stood out to me most was not the size of the brand or the big ambitions. It was the internal culture. Advancement often seemed less about performance or integrity and more about alignment with leadership, especially the kind that required unquestioning agreement
Too often, facts took a back seat to loyalty. Those willing to echo their leaders’ views and carry out uncomfortable directives were rewarded with promotions, high-visibility projects, and insulation from layoffs.
Tight circles formed outside of work through golf outings, country clubs, and social events, reinforcing a system where proximity to power mattered more than principled contribution.
After witnessing multiple rounds of layoffs, a pattern became clear: the culture endured because it protected itself. Leaders who moved on to other companies to leech on took their most loyal su-k-ups with them. I saw this firsthand in tech and analytics. The brown nosers got protection regardless (inside or outside Nike). For the employees who want to do the right thing, this is either demoralizing or pushed them to fall in line.
HR did not seem to act as a neutral balance. In many cases, it felt more aligned with protecting leadership than addressing real concerns. Whether intentional or not, the effect was the same. The system kept reinforcing itself.
The most sobering realization was that leadership changes cannot fix a deeply entrenched culture. New CEOs and turnaround strategies may shift headlines, but without confronting the underlying incentives and behaviors, meaningful change remains elusive.
Real transformation requires more than restructuring or rebranding. It demands a deliberate effort to reshape the culture and to prioritize accountability, merit, and ethical leadership over loyalty politics. Until that happens, the same patterns will persist, no matter who occupies the corner office.
22 replies (most recent on top)
If you work at nike on a visa your opinion doesn't count. you are the reason the culture has turned to sh-t.
Spot on post OP.
I was a leader who tried to look out for my team (questioning the purpose of BS processes and work) and tried to do the right thing for the company based on facts, analysis and experience gained from working at world-class companies. I enjoyed working and getting to know others throughout the organization but did not spend my time brown-nosing leadership. I believe in letting the work and results of my team speak for itself, and then moving on to the next issue/challenge that needs to be solved (and there are many).
I was let go during one of the recent RIFs; however, I wouldn’t have done anything differently because I despise those who “play the game” and offer nothing of value. I’m much happier in my new role and company.
My advice to others is get what YOU want out of Nike and then leave before you wear out your welcome. Beware of picking up bad habits and behaviors at The Swoosh because that place is toxic and unlike other Fortune 100 companies I have worked for.
The type of constructive leadership development programming that is referenced isn’t open to all. Those that shouldn’t be there are simply not invited.
There are careerist people everywhere but they lack experience, knowledge and skills. Managers can't manage what they don't fundamentally understand.
As a fix, all directors or managers who need to bring their team to every meeting because they don't know which way is up need to be riffed. If they fake it the Sr directors need to be responsible. "I'm learning" is not an excuse more than 3 months into a role. It would be hard but in 6 months the ship could be righted and it would be a message that roles now come with expectations to understand the work and lead it.
You have listed for profit publicly traded legitimate businesses
Nike is a glorified jobs program for the state of Oregon, not a serious for profit business entity
Agreed, Nike has a leadership problem. But for some reason these leadership development programs attract the exactly wrong type of managers who use it network and waste time. And then they flaunt it “executive leadership programs”
There are leaders.
And managers.
It is an honor to be considered a leader. Leadership cannot be given. It cannot be assigned. It is earned.
Nike has no leadership. Nike has managers. There is manager training. Manager resources. Managers are assessed on who is a better manager. If a manager does a leadership thing like stand up for and protect their team, they are scorned as the outlier they are.
Nike does not, has not, and never will develop leaders. Other large companies… notable ones, with sustained growth… like Coke, Hewlett, GE… all have internal leadership development. I don’t mean mandatory training. I don’t mean required interactive presentations to click through. Specifically targeted identification, evaluation and development of those who consistently demonstrate leadership qualities. Find those that stand for their team when it’s hard… and develop them. Challenge and reward them with greater opportunities. Retain them. Don’t purge them.
I’ve stood for and have lost three teams that I had developed over the preceding years. If not for reasonable connections inside the berm I am certain I would have been purged, and was directly told so by VP’s. All for standing for what is right.
Have I and others severely limited our careers for believing in and maintaining a posture of leadership and integrity?Absolutely.
A leader builds the future.
A manager is asked to not fu-k up what someone else built, and don’t even think about trying something new or unique.
And we’re out of leaders.
There is no integrity. No courage. Our leaders are not actual leaders, only in name. They are scared and act in self preservation. They don’t know how to speak up. They don’t know how to take a stand. They take the easy way out. They don’t protect their teams. They think only about themselves. They focus on what’s good for them. They su-k up to their boss. They avoid difficult conversations. They take credit for what goes well, and avoid blame for what doesn’t. Why they get paid such a large salary is a mystery.
Leadership is the issue at Nike.
There are few who demonstrate actual leadership. You need to support them. Don’t let the cheats and short-cut takers rise. Get the real leaders recognized. Otherwise there is no hope.
@db
if you don't let us use/take what you have built - you're racist
got it
Last week someone pooped in the shower at the fitness center. From which culture do you think the shower po---r was from? Hint - It wasn't a 'frat bro' who did it.
@ce is so inclusive they circled back around to being racist af. Gotta love Portlandia.
@c5
there is no right to live next to caucasians
why can't you create a successful society on your own
this society were are in now in the US is dying fast
Exactly! This is just more like-me bias showing.
It is entirely unacceptable to expect your teammates to uphold boundaries and ensure appropriate expectation management just because that is something your culture prioritizes.
If another culture has beliefs that are counter to business success, we should be celebrating it. Not avoiding it.
@OP The new culture is all about sking up and kissing bts. In fact for most teams the most unethical
“Leaders” sit at the top. If you can’t handle it just get out. Don’t say anything and just slowly try to find a way out. Nike is toxic. If you know one of the frat boys and they like you then you are good for life.
@cf JD, is that you?
@c5 "beautiful post" so you're the OP? Sounds like you might like curry too, and took my comment personally? If that's the case, and given everything I've already brought up, I am not surprised you feel like an outsider. You refuse to assimilate.
Just to clear the air. I am speaking 100% about culture not race. I love indian ladies, they love me. Well on my way to marrying one.
Your comment is yet another example of the points I raised. Everything comes down to personal honor and losing face. Facts and functionality have no meaning at Nike now.
Name one business function that operates without touching a tech team. It doesn't matter that you or I won't be laid off and replaced by an H1B. We still get slapped with the negative culture every day.
You want to talk about the "evils" of our ceo and bro-leaders. Who was it that brought the IRS to our door when he & his village raided Nike's charitable giving programs? It's criminal that we let him slink off silently without any lawsuits.
You cannot talk about Nike's current culture without commenting on the mixing of high-trust and low-trust cultures.
@af seems like you don’t have much experiences working with other cultures. If you know they never say no, then why put them in an area to make a decision. It’s essentially hammered into their culture to never say no. Curious how your exposure to working with APLA, GC, and Europe. Hopefully you don’t handle them like Americans too.
Funny how the comment section of a beautiful post turned into racist mudslinging of immigrants. Typical! The behavior OP described is entrenched in all departments, not just immigrant heavy tech. We are not winning anywhere.
different culture don't mix, sigh
if you have 2 teams (cultures) playing basketball
1 team is honest (doesn't cheat)
1 team is dishonest (cheats quite a bit)
The dishonest team will probably win most of the games.
So there are only 2 possible outcomes when these 2 teams (cultures) mix:
1) the honest team continues to lose (or be ordered/controlled) by the dishonest one
2) the honest team, tired of being controlled, decides to cheat as well to fight back
The net result is the same. The honest culture gets diminished or decimated.
You can decide for yourself how much culture and race are intertwined.
It is so incredibly frustrating having to lead a team of indians. Culturally they will never say "no".
They promise other teams & leaders the moon and stars if I ever miss a call (and I know for a fact some other teams have excluded me from meetings to make this happen). They feel no compunction to give accurate timelines or workload estimates. It will happen when it happens, but I "promise" it will be done by next week.
When things break it is always some other team's fault. There are never any preventative steps we could have taken. Not that I'm looking to yell at anyone. But we need to be honest about why production went down for more than a day if we ever want to learn from our mistakes.
When I ask if they know how to do something the answer is always "yes". It's impossible to upskill my team because they're a bunch of perfect know-it-alls. Just don't ask them to actually do anything.
We used to have a brownnoser culture. Now we have a "I can't afford to go back into the H1B lottery again. I will do and say anything to make it through one more month" culture. I get why our sociopath leaders love that cult of power. But we all understand that it is incredibly toxic to our business and the health of our systems? Right?
The leaders playing golf looked more like frat bros than Indians. Check to see where some of them left and who they took with them. Some VPs and senior managers were magically moved to different orgs right before layoffs. Easy to trace all of this.
Tech and analytics? I think what you were witnessing is the caste system.