#leadership

Oracle employees always seem to conveniently forget that Oracle is run by a malignant narcisist. Narcisists enjoy the chaos created by pitting their underlings against one another. This is a behavioural fact.

So stop with all the questions of why management does this or that. The answer is that this is Oracle's company culture; derived directly from the sick individual at the top.

Furthermore, it isn't just the hand-wringing of the poor ICs that he enjoys, but the same reaction is taking place through all ranks of management, with almost no exception.

Many big, successful companies take feedback from employees regarding their leaders.

Verizon has only a one-way survey—from manager to employee—and never from employees to managers or leadership.

Like Amazon runs frequent surveys to get:
• Team health
• Leadership effectiveness
• Workplace satisfaction

They make sure that if someone is polluting the culture, they weed them out. Verizon needs this urgently if Dan is dreaming of any transformation.

I'm considering a leadership position (band 9) at Lenovo in the LATC org.

Variable bonus target is 14% for this position, but I'm told the org performed well in the past and the bonus has been more like 20% for employees that meet expectations in the past few years. Given LATC was formed only a year ago, I'm guessing this stat is referring to the bigger org (perhaps the CTO org which LATC is under)

Can anyone at Lenovo confirm this stat? Can anyone confirm they got ~20% bonus for meeting or slightly exceeding expectations?

It is my understanding that the company is planning to lay off a significant number of employees who are directly responsible for day-to-day execution. In light of this, it would be advisable to also evaluate the structure and effectiveness of the senior management team.

A thorough assessment of management layers and their contribution to operational efficiency may help identify meaningful cost-saving opportunities. In some instances, organizations develop multiple layers of leadership that are not closely aligned with core business functions, which can introduce inefficiencies. Additionally, certain senior-level appointments made under prior leadership may warrant review to ensure alignment with current organizational needs and performance expectations.

It is also important to evaluate whether the addition of high-ranking, high-cost roles is delivering the intended improvements in efficiency and execution. A balanced approach that considers both leadership structure and frontline resources is critical to sustaining operational effectiveness.

From a customer perspective, there are growing concerns regarding execution timelines. Based on ongoing engagement with financial institutions across both the East and West Coasts, a consistent theme is that projects are taking longer than expected to launch. This may reflect an overreliance on layered management and delegation, rather than a streamlined, execution-focused approach.

Given the competitive landscape, these concerns are increasingly significant. Industry discussions indicate that organizations are actively evaluating alternative providers, making it essential to address efficiency, accountability, and delivery performance to maintain strong client relationships l,

Just because we were spared this time doesn’t mean we are out of the clear. Once this WB + Paramount merger happens we are ALL on the chopping block. This can’t be helped. Allow yourself to breathe a sigh of relief then start looking again. The battle has been won but the war rages on.

Clearly, David had no idea how widespread our network is and how crucial some remote workers are. Like literally frameworks, codebases, etc would fail overnight. This gives leadership some time to figure out Plan B.

Plan B will be what will happen in 2027. Buckle up.

Is ELT paying attention? Too much id--ts at leadership. Politics and favor is all their game torturing technically IC.

There is a fundamental disconnect between Dan’s stated ambition around AI-led transformation and the behavior being driven by current leadership.

Leaders are not just failing to prioritize upskilling—they are actively deprioritizing and, in many cases, dismissing learning initiatives as non-essential.
Immediate operational demands are consistently positioned above capability building, effectively preventing employees from investing in AI and future-ready skills.

I want to provide this feedback. Where can I provide that?

There is a pattern of behavior where the individual keeps project teams siloed and separated, while expecting everyone to remain aware of all activities. At the same time, information is selectively hidden within teams, creating confusion and lack of transparency.

Communication is often done in Hindi, which can exclude some team members from fully understanding discussions. The individual also appears to influence people to report directly to him, positioning himself as a central point of control. When status updates are requested, he tends to protect those who report to him, which encourages more people to align with him for safety.

Conversely, those who do not report to him are often put in a negative light—either blamed, overlooked, or set up in ways that impact their performance or perception. There are instances where opinions are shaped against certain individuals, affecting their growth, ratings, and opportunities. Senior leadership responsibilities such as supporting, mentoring, and enabling team success are not being fulfilled consistently.

This environment has led to decreased trust, lack of collaboration, and has been a contributing factor in multiple team members choosing to leave.

What if the board had chosen a qualified ceo instead of BDB?

Curious to see how team members in different locations feel about job security, leadership, future, layoffs, etcetera. India? Mexico? San Diego? Other locations?

How is the morale? It feels like rock bottom here in Denver. All the leaders in TX and completely disconnected from the business and staff.

Is there any org thats even half decent?
It used to feel the infrastructure, CTO architecture are the main incompetent organization. Now its all over in every LOB.

Widespread layoffs are happening due to poor financial performance, weak leadership, and an overhyped push toward AI from the CTO.

Another 2% down day. This on the news from one of our clients downgrading us. Do something Mike. Besides following Frank's layoff now and later plan.

I mean, it doesn’t make sense even from a leadership’s purely selfish perspective. Surely productivity has been suffering with all of us on edge all the time and completely demoralized?

Dan signed up for multi billion dollar transformation.

15k layoffs wasn't enough.

More cuts def coming and it seems like execs are getting real with their teams and just flat out scrutinizing everything.

The Sr Directors are also lacking one of the two main key skills. 1) leadership 2) technical knowledge.

Only a handful around that can do both. Can't grow a company if u are just one.

Thoughts?

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/occidentals-hollub-us-oils-most-powerful-woman-prepares-hand-over-reins-sources-2026-03-26/?fbclid=PAT01DUAQybWVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA81NjcwNjczNDMzNTI0MjcAAafvEuiIvnOvKTiucnWJcB1zyFCfbWHhW_KaX6Mmok57YQFFkEPot3kQ_x0FLA_aem_BAgLm0TWnrRFWSQ4s0hIsA

So this was just a “let’s sell you on AI” meeting?
This spin is infuriating. Don’t pi-s on my leg and tell me it’s raining.
AI already took jobs. Just because they were taken first doesn’t mean AI didn’t replace them. In a way I guess it’s true because those who are still employed just have the additional burden of trying to get the job done - until AI can learn. But leadership will keep repeating that it’s not taking jobs. Maybe if we keep hearing it we will believe it?
And are we really bragging that 3 employees were “repurposed” so people start feeling safe?
Just stop. It’s insulting.

Here’s what you can start doing:
Be honest about what the vision is for this company and who has a true future with Canon. Give people the resources to develop marketable skills and move on if your long term plan does not include them. People have families to raise.

He's a bald meatball with no spaghetti, ziti, or cavatelli.

Now with this merger it’s time to get rid of C Smith, Boling, and Lucas. They have destroyed this company.

For those sensible enough to miss this, it was an hour of “John Smith, Fred Bloggs, Mavis Fritter…… all doing a fantastic job”. Next account, same script. Never knew there were so many accounts!
Nothing about pay reviews. Apparently everyone (except a few in Ireland) are all working above and beyond, so message from Captain DA was to work harder so he can get a few more DXC gilets. No Q&A as everyone knew what the topic would be.

https://www.businessinsider.com/paramount-skydance-return-to-office-rto-mandate-remote-employees-relocate-2026-3

It's too much expecting things to improve when it's not just one thing, it's everything. Change the leadership, but if we still have the outdated systems, the processes that require I jump through fifteen hoops to get something done, and the nonexistent morale among the employees, thing will hardly improve. This place needs a major overhaul, top to bottom.

End of Q1

Reading the flurry of posts here is tough for me as I'm sure it is for many others with survivor's guilt. Can't help but want to leave ASAP from this sinking ship. FWIW, here's what I learnt about the situation today (some of it repetitive of what's already been shared).

This is a pilot initiative affecting CIO, Dev and PS.

Affected capital markets solution groups for pilot = IAM (InvestTran, InvestOne) and Data (DIM, PIM, CAM).

Cap markets pilot is just for these solution groups in 2026, with full rollout planned in 2027 across others. Obviously these timelines are subject to change.

LoB (line of business) was kept in the dark until this week.

Effective immediately: people being RIF'd (backfilled in Zensar) and rebadged (moved under Zensar). RIF announcements were made today.

RIF vs rebadge is based on employee grade and where Zensar has offices to take on ex-FIS staff.

But hey, glad that didn't stop the company taking its top brass and the 2025 leading sales performers (and their +1s) to a fancy resort in Switzerland via business class for a week.

For shame, FIS leaders. It's not that we don't understand shareholder primacy, it's just that this all feels like it was so avoidable.

Here is the rundown:

Moving to a 'open contribution' model. Near 100% adoption of AI across the company.
Moving to an 'AI first' mindset. Ty Thorsen (SVP) announcing new 'AI transformation' team to force the use of AI across the board for all engineers.

Still have no growth strategy, just directions and empty promises, AI is taking over increasing burnout, you know what that means...

Moving fast fast fast and faster, more speed more acceleration more efficiency, aiming higher doing better bigger goals yap yap yap typical corporate jargin bla bla bla be excited about company growth (dont ask for more pay)

Karlheinz wurm could not pronounce 'cost', kept saying 'co-k'

Overwhelming negative feedback in the Q&A about RTO.
The anonymous questions are funnily brutal, the top voted one:
"As an office-first organization, shouldn’t all the leaders on this call be present at their main collaboration sites?"

Ty Thorson (SVP) """"answers"""" RTO concerns:
'While individuals might be more productive at home, teams are more productive working together in person" holy cope

"we are not the only ones doing this..." slap to the face

"Were leading this with a carrot, not with a stick. We are hoping the people will appreciate coming into the office for their team" trying to blame YOU for their bad decisions

Then they start blatently deleting all of the tough-to-answer RTO questions. Absolutely comical as more and more people ask "Why are you deleting RTO questions". So much for being a transparent company.

The rest of the questions are sidestepped and doesnt really answer anything, typical corporate vetted PR talk around the use of AI and how its going to change the world.
Constantly reciting the absolutes, like "all", "most of", "best", "must", "fully", "completely" etc.

People are asking some really brutal questions now, example:
"Someone deleted the question??? Please have all leaders show who is currently in the office if we are to believe you are leading by example"

They keep deleting questions rapid-fire.
Atmosphere gets tense.
No actual questions answered.

"I see concerns about topics like RTO, please message xyz if you feel this way"

"Will we compensate people for gas and time lost coming into the office? Thats not part of Cisco's policy its your responsability to take care of that" lol thanks lets create a problem and expect you to pay for it

The questions in Slido get REALLY heated now, moderation is working overtime deleting messages. More and more questions on compensation not increasing with inflation.

Out of all the leadership speakers, only 4 were in the office.
Everyone couldnt even come into the office to give a talk about returning to the office.
Great lead by example.

The rest of the meeting was a big nothingburger.

It cannot be any clearer how dogshit current leadership is.
If you havent quiet quit by now, this is your signal.

We're all in agreement to only work 4/5 days a week and only put forth 80% effort right? for those who havent quiet quit already please do so and stop taking this job seriously. stop slacking ppl, stop scheduling meetings, just ktlo because that is exactly what kkr and elt are doing.

https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/people-who-love-corporate-bs-are-bad-at-their-jobs-new-cornell-research-confirms/91314405

Will HR make him send an email with an official apology or will 3000 RND employees be quietly told to ignore him? Either way confidence is lost.

He fired the testers causing an explosion in escaped bugs. BH apologed for him.

His rolling reorg has slowed work so badly that he thinks T-TH will fix the mess he made. Will the reorg ever be code complete?

He put US RND teams under the direction of an inexperienced director in another country with a 5 hour time difference. How does that help in person innovation?

He split Viya 3.5 and 4.0 RND teams putting them in competition ki-ling any chance for a smooth customer upgrade.

He has not developed one working GenAI SAS model after two years of trying.

He gave up a 19 point lead in the NCAA tournament.

Anything else?

I can’t confirm whether every rumor going around is true, but I can speak to what many of us see and feel inside the team. There’s a clear sense of favoritism and decisions that don’t always seem based on merit.
It’s also concerning to watch the CEO receive multimillion‑dollar compensation while work is being sent overseas, reducing local opportunities and creating even more uncertainty for employees.
This isn’t about attacking anyone or repeating unverified claims. It’s about pointing out a culture where some people protect each other while others are left vulnerable, which naturally creates distrust and discourages those who work with integrity.
Fair leadership should focus on transparency, equity, and real accountability.

GPC finally fired not retired our supposed tech leader. He destroyed a great organization. Next they will move to take out all his minions.

They surprised me at the speed in which they lock out laid off employees from the laptops. We are talking 15-30 minutes. And they can discreetly delete the Outlook and Teams app off your phone within an hour. I guess the proficiency is due to the high volume of practice they receive every six or so months.

Now, only if Team Shannon Bell could find away to fulfill routine employee IT requests in a timely manner. Right now we are talking weeks, and in some cases, months.

This company is a clown show.

Get ready those who were favored by past PDR representation with no technical merit or expertise in what you do at CVX (what I mean, NO demonstrated experienced or past in the team you are supporting) . Yes, you know who I am talking about.. a role in MCBU means or adds nothing to OffShore no matter what you define as a factory of process... The gig is up for CVX lazy nobodies, that float between GENV and Exploration team. WHEN was CVX last organic new Country Entry that wasn’t with an acquisition?! Get ready for a new org with Hess in power..AND their newest recruit from Total. Yes, it’s demoralizing that CVX couldn’t clean up their own mess but after 13+ dry holes and only an NOJV discovery to celebrate… wasn’t it TIME???!

I'm surprised and honestly impressed Srini is going to be taking questions from employees like that. There's some hard questions people have thumbed up and I don't think this is anything Mike S would have done and I don't think it's anything Freier or other SLT would consider. First time I've had any hope in leadership around here in awhile.

Today we found out that a member from my team who has only been on the team for two years will be getting promoted. That person is still very new and has a lot of questions and in my opinion work to do. One of other members on the team who has been here for 6 years is always helpful, knowledgeable, and shockingly passed for this promotion. If anyone deserves it then it’s him and I’m shocked he didn’t get it. Surprised manager or vp didn’t feel this way and went with the other team member.

So he could be part of Trumps AI board. First, he took the knee, which is embarrassing for him and his company.
Second, he just reaffirmed he’d do anything for a buck
Finally, he showed what a greedy, money grubbing wh--e he is.

The leader who seems to be behind this was employed by this contracting company. Check out his LinkedIn.

If you ever needed proof that ethical leadership is the load‑bearing pillar of any functioning organization — especially one trying to execute strategy or implement AI — look no further than the heralded halls of 240G. It serves as a cautionary tale carved into the ruins of a once‑stable institution: the pillars are cracking, the principles are eroding, and leadership is standing beneath the rubble insisting everything is “on track.”

Ethical leadership is supposed to be the foundation that holds up culture, trust, and long‑term strategy. Without it, the entire structure becomes a hollow monument — impressive from a distance, but one strong gust of “cost optimization” away from collapse. And according to current and recent leadership experience, that gust arrives at least once per quarter.

In a healthy organization, leaders model integrity, transparency, and accountability. In the version described on this site, leadership treats principles like decorative columns: nice to look at, but purely ornamental. They talk about values while quietly chiseling away at them by their own examples. They praise employees for resilience while removing the very supports that make resilience possible. They speak of transformation as if it’s a noble journey, not a slow demolition of institutional memory.

This is where AI enters the picture — and where the absence of ethical leadership may become catastrophic.

AI can be a powerful tool for strategy execution, but only if guided by leaders who understand its impact on people, processes, and culture.

Without ethics, AI becomes a mechanized wrecking ball: efficient, emotionless, and devastatingly precise.
Imagine an AI trained on the behaviors described on this site by our current and former associates. It would:
• Automate layoffs with the enthusiasm of a demolition crew
• Flag “low engagement” as a structural defect
• Recommend replacing experience with cheaper concrete
• Generate leadership messages that say nothing but sound inspirational

Strategy execution cannot survive in a culture where the pillars are cracking and leadership keeps insisting the dust clouds are “a sign of progress.” AI certainly can’t.

The truth is simple:
You cannot build a sustainable future on eroded principles.
Not with strategy.
Not with AI.
Not with any amount of corporate spin.

Ethical leadership isn’t optional — it’s the only thing preventing the entire structure from collapsing on the people still holding it up.

Will it go into the $5 range tomorrow? What is Jim Kelly and the ELT leadership messaging internally on this? Jim Kelly famously tells everyone in his ruthless way his job is “the stock price.”…well?

You’re not viewed as an investment, you’re treated as a cost to be managed. That distinction is intentional. This isn’t leadership, it’s management in its most short-sighted form.

There’s no real vision here - only a fixation on near-term optics and personal gain. Anyone outside of that inner circle is reduced to a line item, something to optimize or eliminate in service of short-term efficiency metrics. The broader, long-term impact simply isn’t part of the equation.

They understand the job market dynamics. They know there’s a steady pipeline of applicants. That knowledge reinforces a mindset where people are interchangeable and, ultimately, expendable. It removes any incentive to invest in talent, develop people, or build something durable.

The cost-cutting decisions they make carry little immediate consequence for them personally, since they’re insulated from the actual work and its downstream effects. But those same decisions generate immediate, tangible upside for themselves, whether in compensation, perception, or internal positioning.

So the system sustains itself: extract value now, defer consequences, and treat people as replaceable inputs rather than assets worth investing in.