Nike Innovation Leadership: World-Class Excellence in Strategic Seat-Warming
Please join me in recognizing the extraordinary contributions of certain Nike Innovation directors—the courageous executives who collect enormous salaries while bravely enduring back-to-back meetings about meetings.
Their impact is difficult to measure, primarily because there isn’t any.
These visionary leaders have perfected a revolutionary management model:
• Protect your title.
• Protect your salary.
• Protect your friends.
• Protect the appearance of importance.
• Under no circumstances protect, develop, or advocate for the employees doing the actual work.
When talented people ask for support, mentorship, career development, or basic accountability, leadership suddenly becomes powerless. But when someone posts an uncomfortable truth online? Incredible. Immediate alignment. Urgent conversations. Executive escalation. A flawless demonstration of speed, collaboration, and decisive action.
Apparently, deleting criticism is the only deliverable this leadership team can complete on schedule.
Imagine if they invested that same energy in developing employees, removing barriers, making decisions, or producing something more valuable than corporate theater and expensive calendar invitations.
But let’s be fair: warming a premium office chair all day while protecting a six-figure salary is demanding work. Sometimes you barely have enough energy left to say “people first” before doing absolutely nothing for those people.
Innovation isn’t dead. It’s just trapped in a meeting, waiting for approval from someone whose primary contribution is occupying a director-level seat.
Just delete it.™