#leadership

Everything is working out well for us, and this leadership has never been the one to lay people off just for the sake of layoffs. Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm done stressing over cuts, at least for now.

Dedicated people with decades of experience are walking away. We're losing our best resource, and nobody in charge seems to care.

The history of the CTO or CIO or CDIO or GDIO or whatever title they go by.
Ratnakar 2024-Present
Amish Patel 2023-2025
Anil Bhatt 2019-2021
Ed Smith 2018-2019
Tim Skeen 2017-2018
Tom Miller 2014-2018
Andrew Lang 2008-2013
And each one of them brings in their own cronies.  Then they stop what were doing and we start all over with their agendas.  We never finish anything.
Meanwhile, more and more RIF's happen in the lower ranks, while they all walk away or get fired and leave with their golden parachutes.

Wow.. For someone who went to Brown.....

It's funny to thing that Legg thinks he is the next CEO

Compared to this same time last year, everything is trending in the wrong direction:

• Customer Success output is way down — fewer courses built, slower turnaround, more backlog.
• IA/EA adoptions are noticeably lower across multiple disciplines.
• Salesforce closed business is so far behind that leadership is blaming “CRM hygiene” instead of acknowledging the real problem.
• Faculty frustration is rising — some are openly threatening to switch materials.
• Customer Success and reps are already exhausted, and it’s not even September.

We’re running back‑to‑school with a skeleton crew and a roll of duct tape. Org chart vacancies everywhere. New hires who don’t understand their roles or the workflows they’re supposed to support. Experienced colleagues continuing to exit, and many who remain are actively looking for new careers.

And here’s the part leadership won’t say out loud:

This is NOT what Apollo wanted heading into an IPO.
Apollo expected a clean, stable, predictable back‑to‑school season — something they could point to when selling the story to Wall Street. Instead, they’re getting:

collapsing workflows
missed in‑stock dates
angry faculty
exhausted teams
shrinking adoption pipelines
declining IA/EA momentum
internal confusion about roles, ownership, and accountability

This is the opposite of “IPO‑ready.”

And it all ties back to the May 1st reorg.
The May 1st reorg removed the last wave of people who actually understood Higher Ed The people who stabilized operations, built courses correctly, managed timelines, and kept faculty relationships intact.

In their place, leadership installed a structure full of:

• inexperienced managers
• unclear roles
• pods stretched across institutions
• Customer Success teams drowning in work
• reps covering territories that make no sense
• workflows patched together with duct tape

The May 1st reorg wasn’t a “reset.”
It was a detonation, and we’re living in the blast radius.

Apollo wanted a clean runway to an IPO. Instead, they got a back‑to‑school season that looks like a controlled crash.

Employees can see it.
Faculty can feel it.
Customers are talking about it.
And the numbers reflect it.

This isn’t “a tough year.”
It’s a disaster, one created by leadership decisions that gutted the last of the real industry talent right before the busiest stretch of the year.

If Apollo thought the May 1st reorg would make Cengage look stronger heading into an IPO, they’re now seeing the truth:

You can’t cut your way to stability.
You can’t reorganize your way to expertise.
And you can’t IPO your way out of operational collapse.

The leader of our team just disappeared, no good bye email, no thanks for all the hard work, nothing. Just gone. Her linkedin does not show Insight as her employer anymore, it did just last week. Tried to send an email last week and it just went into a black hole, or where ever her emails are now forwarded to. I think from reading other posts on here that she was terminated, no early retirement, just role eliminated I guess. Seems to be the main tactic used to put people out to pasture. Whack-ATTACK-Jack sure is making his markie mark. I'm not sure it's leadership being demonstrated here, just desperation to get the numbers in line to get a bonus and sure is devoid of any real strategy.

Nike used to lead trends. Now it feels like Nike is chasing them because it fell behind after years of bad product, uninspired colors, and questionable fashion decisions (lead by a mass wave of DEI initiatives).

And look at New Balance and Adidas. There’s nothing particularly flashy or revolutionary about what they’re doing, yet they’re eating Nike’s lunch because they’re executing better and giving consumers products they actually want.

Nike doesn’t need more discounts. It needs better product and a clear point of view. Lower the prices, stop training consumers to wait for sales, overhaul the board, and bring in a CEO who understands product, innovation, and the brand, not just sales.

Look at Apple. Steve Jobs was pushed out and replaced by a Pepsi executive focused on selling more product. Apple lost its way. When Jobs returned, he rebuilt the leadership team and focused on innovation, creating products people didn’t even know they wanted.

Henry Ford famously said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

That’s the problem with Nike right now. Nike shouldn’t be asking what consumers want from Nike’s competitors. Nike should be creating what comes next.

Nike needs real leaders. Smart leaders. Forward thinking innovators who understand that the answer isn’t selling more of what isn’t working. The answer is creating something people can’t wait to buy.

Phil built a company that changed the world. Nike needs to find its next generation of leaders before that legacy gets lost.

Perfectly said, @fe+1m0mxdc30.

We were at 245 summer st. The room was vp’s on up. Lots of mba, egghead types. We were talking about updates to a platform, to include new offerings. I had spent 8 years on the phones and got a new gig. I felt like I could adequately describe and represent the associates who are on the front lines.

The conversation was about logical progression and workflow of a call. I insisted that not all calls flow a logical progression but many times clients get emotional. I cited several examples and case studies to make my points. The discussion became difficult, especially for this one svp bonehead who’s claim to fame was he was smarter than everyone. By the end of the meeting, because of time, the decisions made were to not change a single thing because the logic was good and the back office would just need to get more efficient.

These eggheads do not know what they’re talking about and think they’re superior to the associates.

Can we bring back good leaders to Nike? Those who left or RIF’d people actually liked and/or at least did great work and delivered results? Ones who their teams liked working for? I don’t even care if liked, but if delivered can we petition to get them back?!?

Who do we go after? I just want to have competent leadership again.

As I get ready to start this week, I can’t help but think that September 4 is right around the corner, and I’m starting to feel conflicted. Part of me is so happy to finally say goodbye to a company that, sadly, became toxic due to certain leadership decisions. Don’t get me wrong, Centene has some amazing employees and leaders, but unfortunately, they feel few and far between. At the same time, I’ve been with this company for what feels like forever, so the thought of starting over and looking for a new job is a little overwhelming.

I’m curious if anyone else is feeling the same way and how you’re coping with it. Also, I haven’t received any VSP information other than confirmation that I applied. Has anyone received any updates they can share?

To everyone leaving with me on September 4, cheers! 🥂 And to those staying, best of luck!

Congratulations to all UOP teams, now you got long wishes new boss coming from Honeyhell. You life is well to be doomed to be the slaves to Honeyhell

Does anyone know why so suddenly that this golden boy is gone?

The driver is ok. Of course, the VZ car crash causes another car to crash. Everything VZ (leadership) touches turns to c.r.a.p.. The VZ car was near the end of the pack when it ran into the wall (unforced error).

Video of the crash in the link:
https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/motor/2026/08/23/freedom-250-crash-david-malukas-third-in-indycar-standings-out/91433105007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z116744p118150c118150e1106xxv116744d--57--b--57--&gca-ft=209&gca-ds=sophi

There are two types of leaders. The confident ones hire the best minds around them, people who'll challenge them and give honest advice. The insecure ones hire yes-men. The second kind is running this company straight into the ground, and they're getting rich doing it.

They're milking the company for quick profits while it lasts. Layoffs boost stock prices and pad bonuses, even if they hollow out the company for the future. They're not clueless. They just don't care what happens after they cash out.

I'm yet to met a useful one.

We had a great manager who was knowledgeable, supportive, and respected. They forced him out and now we have a credit-stealing dolt. Can somebody explain to me why this was done? Because I certainly can't figure this stupidity out.

With all the recent changes, I have no other explanation.

If you could choose anybody, not just from Intel's current or former leadership.

How long does this leadership think we can keep getting these PR hits and getting away with it?

The leadership's perfect candidate has wisdom of a 50yo, experience of a 40yo, drive of a 30yo, and will work for pay of 20yo.

Not with town halls, but real conversations about things getting better? It seems like they're hoping the issue will fix itself.

We're having trouble attracting top talent these days due to the plummeting reputation. All the bad reviews I keep seeing on the usual sites are true, calling out no leadership, no promotions, and no care. I wonder if the leadership thinks they can ride on Dell's old reputation forever.

Is their strategy to hire more VPs and fire people who understand the business? Veritas - if you are reading this...you are stressing out the staff and ruining what should be a profitable well run business. Stop hiring d-mb VPs who don't know the business and start taking care of your long-time staff. Your bad decisions are risking the point of no return. Who's going to buy this business when our competitors can wait for bids and just take our contracts. HMS used to be a great business but everyone who remembers the 'good old days' is gone. The executives are waiting for their big payday and couldn't care less. This is a model of how not to run a business or how to run a decent business into the ground. If you are an executive: Make smarter decisions or resign! The good staff at Gainwell are tired of this sh-t! Veritas should be embarrassed at how this acquisition turned out! You are a bunch of losers!!

Ford should rotate managers, supervision... around or bring quality talent from outside to change the culture.

Did anyone see our illustrious Chief Empowerment Officer for Clover in Vegas last week? Is she still on the payroll? One of the largest boondoggles from FB & SW.

Haters may not want to read this...
This proves how smart Eddie is. Why continue to run a bunch of dumpy brick and mortar stores that lose money, when he can see his products online and through other retailers? The transformation is nearly complete.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonethington_having-closed-out-nearly-four-years-with-activity-7494034203332972544-yO_O

If Tom makes that decision, are we going to replace Ms. Fleming with someone similar? BD has one of the most inefficient IT teams, and only a capable leader can turn it around. However, I doubt that many qualified candidates would be interested in joining BD.

I changed roles thinking it would help, but it didn't. Nobody leads, nobody mentors, nobody even seems interested in talking to me. My manager has never asked if I need anything or how I'm doing. That's not leadership. That's just someone occupying a title. I'm not staying where I'm invisible.

The idea we can return Nike to glory or even growth just selling more to Wholesale has never been right. Sounds like an easy fix because it is too simple. On and Hoka didn't eat our lunch because of shelf space. Their products were innovative, comfortable and looked cool or different and our running products were not any of that - until at least the Vom18 which is a pretty good Hoka knock off. New Balance brought back retro running and got cooler and deeper in culture through athletes. Adi sparked a low pro trend as were overheating on chunky high pro Air Force, AJ1 and Dunks. They did sell those in wholesale. We now have lost all of the people who get all of this. If or when we ever get those types of people or a new visionary and our mojo back, Nike digital stores and wholesale will all grow. It's not complicated - innovative or cool/style right product and inspiring brand marketing and also being part of shaping culture have always been the answer. When that happens, our products sell everywhere. This is not a turnaround taking longer - what drives Nike's growth just isn't happening here any more - not now nor over the past 2 to 3 years. Even still, that's all easy to say, hard to do. Need visionaries who can also hire talent and inspire everyone. Layoffs are not the answer either.

Why is this going on for so long?

Am I the only one that finds it odd that this large charity event we hold every year does not have our MP anywhere near it? I swear this woman is a ghost and is checked out from this company. She makes time to fly around the country for photo ops at random country music concerts, but cannot spare a couple hours in her "home town" to attend the United Way event.

Workplace excellence often ends up meaning:

looking good
sounding good
being visible
being “aligned”
being socially smooth
fitting the corporate narrative
participating in culture, meetings, rituals

It’s about optics and behavior inside the system.

Work excellence usually means:

delivering results
doing the hard work
solving the real problems
carrying the load
improving the bottom line

It’s about actual output and impact.

Why is the TAO leader (P. M.) threatening an employee about his job security in front of hundreds of employees during her talk in Bengaluru? Why has the Board of Directors and CEO not taken any serious action? Are leaders at that level not accountable for their words and actions? What happened to Nokia being an Ethical Company? How do you think the employee who was being threatened felt after being embarrassed in front of hundreds of employees? Does she think this is a joking matter? What type of damage does this do to Nokia (brand, investors, customers, future contracts (gov't and commercial), employees, etc)? Should leadership be just as ACCOUNTABLE as any other employee?

Heard the update on GCC. A lot of questions were asked by attendees of which some were selected for response. The answers were non-answers which was not surprising. People can handle uncertainty and difficult truths much better when they are presented plainly and honestly. I just wish our leaders understood that.

1. Nix big meetings

Excessive meetings are the blight of big companies and almost always get worse over time. Please get rid of all large meetings, unless you’re certain they are providing value to the whole audience, in which case keep them very short.

1. Ditch frequent meetings too

Get rid of frequent meetings, unless you are dealing with an extremely urgent matter. Meeting frequency should drop rapidly once the urgent matter is resolved.

Leave a meeting if you’re not contributing

Walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren’t adding value. It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time.

1. Drop jargon

Don’t use acronyms or nonsense words for objects, software or processes. In general, anything that requires an explanation inhibits communication. We don’t want people to have to memorize a glossary just to function.

1. Communicate directly, irrespective of hierarchy

Communication should travel via the shortest path necessary to get the job done, not through the ‘chain of command’. Any manager who attempts to enforce chain of command communication will soon find themselves working elsewhere.

A major source of issues is poor communication between departments. The way to solve this is allow free flow of information between all levels. If, in order to get something done between depts, an individual contributor has to talk to their manager, who talks to a director, who talks to a VP, who talks to another VP, who talks to a director, who talks to a manager, who talks to someone doing the actual work, then super d-mb things will happen. It must be ok for people to talk directly and just make the right thing happen.

1. Follow logic, not rules

In general, always pick common sense as your guide. If following a ‘company rule’ is obviously ridiculous in a particular situation, such that it would make for a great Dilbert cartoon, then the rule should change.

This is a great site. Really.

People come here with good questions, stupid questions, and occasionally questions so id--tic they achieve a kind of accidental brilliance. That’s society. We live with it.

But we also know this forum has a dedicated HR “team” reading pretty much every post and repost. And, apparently, the “moderators” occasionally lend a hand by making particularly effective posts disappear.

Not insider trading. Not NDA material. Not confidential information.

Just good, sharp criticism of the current leadership.

And my favorite feature—arguably the best health indicator on the entire site—is the down-arrow brigade.

Mention a particularly sensitive subject and, within minutes, the arrows start raining down. You couldn’t ask for a better diagnostic: someone hit a nerve.

And apparently that nerve belongs to the oligarchy.

So, to the HR “team” and the helpful moderators: please, keep it up. The disappearing posts and instant downvotes are remarkably refreshing. They tell us far more than you probably intended. Like that is gonna fix your problem

And to the people running this place: you’re welcome.

We’ll keep asking the uncomfortable questions, poking the obvious holes, and—apparently—keeping your lazy as--s employed.

Try not to delete this one too quickly. It’s almost a compliment.

It seems as though we have lost our way to deliver high customer satisfaction. The forward models are uninspired. Quality leaders seem seem to be happy with status quo. There needs to be a change in the Quality leadership so we can start engineering vehicles customers want and deliver high satisfaction. Is it time for a new Quality Czar?

Is Tanya McNally also no longer at Centene? I see her showing as "presence unknown"........