Many non-american directors and VPs in US are surviving by feeding on work of their remote teams. They have no technical, no planning, and no managerial ability. They cannot contribute to strategy and not set direction for the team.
Theiremote team wastes time explaining work to him so he can brief higher-ups, but there poor grasp and inaccurate updates create confusion and more effort. Out of insecurity, they misrepresent successes as their own foresight, blame failures on remote leads, and withhold information from remote leads to keep them from becoming threats. They even avoid involving remote leads in meetings with other american peers and managers, ensuring they are cut off from visibility and credit. Careers in remote teams depend on their patronage, not merit; loyalists are rewarded, independent voices punished. Their insecurity, politics, and favoritism fracture the team and poison the culture.
Have you come across such leaders ??
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https://www.thelayoff.com/post/@eb+1k3eaq2qw
Principals Directors and VPs in US have distorted the review process into a tool for personal power. Instead of providing leadership, they operate as brokers of influence between remote teams and senior management in US, positioning themselves as gatekeepers of visibility and advancement. Teams are forced to rely on their endorsement, which allows these operators to claim credit for work they did not do and maintain a relevance that is otherwise hollow. If India and China teams had direct access to execs in US, it would become clear that these middlemen add no real value. Their survival depends entirely on blocking visibility and playing politics.To protect their position, they engage in favoritism and manipulation. They reward loyalists who shield them or echo their views, while punishing those who speak up, disagree in public, or expose mistakes. Strong local leads are often deliberately starved of information and opportunities when seen as a threat. This behavior not only suppresses merit but also creates damaging rifts within teams, dividing people into camps of enablers and outcasts. What has emerged is a culture where silence is rewarded, truth is penalized, and advancement depends not on contribution but on allegiance to political gatekeepers.
This is part of being in a large company. Learn to deal with it. It is the same at all large companies.
Progress is slowed because decisions are filtered through directors in US who neither understand the details nor trust the experts. Teams, who should be driving results with pride, waste their energy rehearsing updates for managers who cannot stand on their own.
A growing pattern of insecure h1b leadership in the U.S. is undermining Qualcomm’s global strength. These leaders survive not by what they build, but by what they extract. They are not strategists or innovators — they are middlemen who thrive on the work of their remote teams while adding confusion, politics, and fear.Remote teams spend hours daily educating a manager who should be leading them. Instead of clearing roadblocks, these individuals create them. They avoid bringing offshore leads into key meetings, ensuring recognition flows only upward to them. When questioned, they retaliate quietly — careers stall, opportunities vanish, and loyalists get promoted regardless of merit.