#leadership

It’s been announced that the now former head of the Americas and UKI will be leaving very soon.
Such a shame to lose yet another senior exec in less than two years, how will the company survive…

At the Salesforce company kickoff in las Vegas yesterday Mark Benioff joked about ice and bragged about how many people he was hiring but did not acknowledge the stress or the trauma that ice is inflicting on his own employees, let alone the capricious layoffs in professional services that affected people who typically bill hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

He seemed tone deaf and completely insulated from what it's like for the people who work for him but still had the gall to mention ohana many times. The internal slack channels were on fire with people, many of whom had been laid off without cause.
The public video was edited to omit the remarks in a very awkward and amateurish way.

Salesforce used to be an exception but now it is just yet another billionaire-owned company that only cares about next quarters profit and loss.

The way Clover as a product emerged over the years and took the market by a storm, I almost feel sorry looking and hearing about the conditions now. Remember Blackberry !
There is no direction, there are no mandates or focus or practically anything which shows a leadership. The failure has been gargantuan, customers unhappy and leadership in a self-made happy bubble while competitors are leaving Clover behind in this race.
On dot was the only thing missing in this game of railroading this company and now thatthey are here they seem to leave no stones unturned to finish off the job !

This ship is sinking. Good Job Execs. Guess the 10% dividend boost didn't matter and your shareholders see the writing on the wall. Bye bye C Levels. Just a matter of a short period of time here. Should be a fun next few months.

Phillips 66 increasingly feels like four different companies trying to share one identity.

Refining behaves like a cyclical market business.

Midstream behaves like long-cycle infrastructure.

Chemicals operates on global petrochemical timelines.

Commercial trading introduces short-term risk and volatility.

Each of these businesses has its own logic. The problem is that they do not share the same operating tempo, capital profile, or investor base.

And yet management continues to insist that integration creates advantage.

The evidence suggests the opposite.

Refining volatility still dominates results. Chemicals absorbs capital just as margins weaken. Midstream demands steady reinvestment as assets age. Trading amplifies swings rather than smoothing them. Instead of offsetting one another, the segments often pull the company in conflicting directions.

This is not an execution issue alone — it is a structural one.

When leadership attention is divided across fundamentally different business models, accountability blurs. Each segment can point to another when performance falls short:
• Refining blames markets.
• Trading points to volatility.
• Midstream cites long-cycle economics.
• Chemicals asks for patience.

The result is a company where no single leader owns the full economic outcome, and shareholders are left holding a portfolio they didn’t explicitly choose.

Investors don’t need Phillips 66 to assemble this mix for them. They can buy refiners, midstream operators, or chemical producers directly. Portfolio theory says diversification only creates value when it reduces risk or increases returns. At Phillips 66, it increasingly looks like diversification is doing neither.

That is why the breakup conversation keeps resurfacing — not as an activist slogan, but as a rational response to structural tension.

Separating refining from infrastructure.

Allowing chemicals to find a more natural owner.

Letting midstream operate without being anchored to refining cycles.

These are not radical ideas. They are acknowledgments that different businesses require different leadership focus and different shareholder bases.

Right now, Phillips 66 feels less like an integrated platform and more like a collection of assets waiting for clarity.

The company doesn’t suffer from a lack of strategy.

It suffers from too many strategies competing at once.

Until leadership chooses focus over breadth, the conglomerate discount will remain — not because investors misunderstand the story, but because they understand it all too well.

https://services.global.ntt/en-us/newsroom/ntt-data-appoints-seelan-nayagam-as-asia-pacific-ceo

Took a long long while for DH the sleazy breezy Chief People Officer to be quietly turned out to pasture… He must have had a really ironclad type of contract to avoid being sacked for decades of behavior complaints… or he knew some excellent intel on the ELT as protection.

So.. good luck new lady. The bar was low so you can just not be a creep and you’re already doing better than the last guy

There's no way IBM won't feel some residual effect from this.

https://www.wsj.com/business/c-suite/kyndryl-finance-chief-wyshner-leaves-amid-accounting-review-167cd93d

The company also cut its guidance for the year after posting third-quarter results below Wall Street expectations

By: Colin Kellaher and Elias Schisgall
Updated Feb. 9, 2026 10:19 am ET

Shares of Kyndryl KD Holdings lost more than half their value after the company’s chief financial officer left amid a review of accounting practices following an inquiry from the Securities and Exchange Commission

The information-technology-services infrastructure provider on Monday said finance chief David Wyshner had left the company, along with general counsel, Edward Sebold. The company also cut its guidance for the year after posting third-quarter results below Wall Street expectations.

Shares were down nearly 57% in recent trading to $10.18.

The New York-based company said its audit committee was reviewing its cash-management practices and related disclosures, including regarding the drivers of its adjusted free-cash-flow metric, as well as the efficacy of its internal control over financial reporting, according to a filing with the SEC. The review came after the SEC’s enforcement division requested certain documents from the company.

Kyndryl said that while it doesn’t expect the review to result in a restatement or other impact to its financial statements, it will delay filing its quarterly report with the SEC and expects to report material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting for fiscal 2025 and the first three quarters of fiscal 2026.

The company said it needs more time to finalize its quarterly report, which covers the fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, adding that it is developing a remediation plan that it will outline in the report.

Kyndryl Chief Executive Martin Schroeter declined to comment further on the company’s earnings call. “The fact is we just can’t comment until the examination is complete,” he said. “The teams are working expeditiously so we can share a remediation plan.”

He added that the company’s fiscal 2028 goals remain intact.

For its latest quarter, Kyndryl posted an adjusted profit of 52 cents a share on revenue of $3.86 billion, shy of the 60 cents a share and $3.89 billion, respectively, that analysts had penciled in.

The company said it now expects its full-year revenue to fall by 2% to 3% in constant currency, after previously forecasting a 1% rise. It also cut its full-year guidance for adjusted pretax income and free cash flow.

Harsh Chugh, Kyndryl’s global head of practices, corporate development and administration, has stepped in as interim chief financial officer, and Mark Ringes, deputy general counsel since 2024, will serve as interim general counsel. Both appointments went into effect Feb. 5.

Both Wyshner and Sebold had been in their posts at Kyndryl since 2021, the year the company was spun off from IBM.

But what’s he doing?

I am so excited about CS leading China!
Aren't you?!

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cisco-ceo-explains-why-thinks-094401737.html

I mean it sounds good at Chucks level. Has he actually seen the layers upon layers of pointless management?

They cost too much. It's that simple. Companies prioritize immediate savings over quality and short-term gains over long-term health. That’s the core reason we’re in a downward spiral, and it will almost certainly get worse. There's no vision. No grand plan. Just a relentless scramble to cut costs and funnel money to the top for as long as possible.

Does anyone think this new CEO is a clown?

The execs should be laid off first. Just plug in some kind of AI, it'll do a better job.

Any CEO could meet those incredibly low expectation's.

Even senior leaders appear unable to credibly defend the current direction. All-hands meetings lack conviction, and there is a widespread belief that employees are being financially and professionally constrained with little effort to soften the message.

Self published and thousands of copies. So sad. So NOT what AI is all about - actual paper copy book. Good grief. Then there are the WILD events Sales sponsors for leadership and their pets & the wink wink business travel needed to international destinations where leadership family tags along. Money, money, money. No bonuses, no hiring, leadership BLEEDING fun spending. NORTEL all over again.

Remember this name come March Bas Burger. Who is the CEO of BT Global in London will become the new CEO of Verizon Consumer. Remember the name ;)

The new performance distribution targets are roughly 18% 'Contributing' and 2% 'Underperforming.' Is leadership actually held to these same quotas, or is this just another squeeze on ICs? Word on the floor is that managers are using the lower tiers to offload people they personally dislike rather than using actual metrics. Between the forced rankings and the 3-year raise freeze, it feels like the IC experience is being sacrificed to pad the leadership layer.

When senior executives leave, the change rarely stops there.

Leadership shifts reset strategy, trust, and expectations. That reset naturally moves to the director level.

Directors are visible. They execute strategy and often carry the imprint of the leadership that promoted them. In transitions, that association matters.

The signs are familiar. New operating rhythms. More focus on accountability. Questions about why work exists, not just how fast it moves.

This does not always lead to exits. Sometimes it shows up as stalled growth, role changes, or sudden performance narratives.

What many miss is that this is not about personalities or praise. It is about how large organizations actually operate. Leadership change is a business process, not a sentiment exercise. It also exposes a harder truth. Many people in senior roles never fully understood the business to begin with.

Titles offer little protection in these moments. Alignment does.

Executive exits make the headlines.
The real change happens one level down.

Ondot management taking over Clover teams has been a disaster. The managers and directors brought in have no understanding of the products, systems, or culture they inherited; yet they’re aggressively imposing their own playbook as if they built it.

Instead of learning first and leading responsibly, they’re bulldozing teams with zero domain knowledge and maximum ego. Execution quality has dropped, morale is wrecked, and decision-making feels reckless at best.

It’s leadership without competence and the people who actually built and ran these systems are the ones paying the price.

If this is the “new direction,” it’s hard to see how it ends well

Is that true anyone?

Could my dream be coming true.

Finally finally!!!

Highlighting one of the reasons among many in Molina causing this huge Margin issues. CIO "A D" hires from his pet IT vendor Infinite and lay offs us full time IT and business operation employees. Many of us in IT & Operation management know CIOs connection with Infinite and what’s their benefits from them but remained to keep mum fearing backlash. He indirectly forced us (management) to take contractors of Infinite and favored Infinite to get many useless projects (some were necessary but many were just there to give them business). He has milked Molina a lot causing this huge margin issues for Molina now as he gave tons of useless projects to Infinite and indirectly gets benefitted. COO to whom CIO reports, probably knows about it and possibly is friends with Infinite too obviously for mutual gains. They are firing employees now after doing a bad job of not managing the margins correctly and causing excessive spending in IT and overall company operations. They should be the first one to be fired as they caused excessive spending as someone said in comments in another post about the spend in Azure, useless Upgrades in pretext of modernization, New Products, AI spending to name a few. Just imagine, we are serving the poorest of poor folks in USA by doing R&D in AI, building them shiny apps etc. using companies like Infinite, offshoring the Jobs and paying company like Infinite with USA government $$ which is meant for the poorest of poor Medicaid beneficiaries.

Here's an idea: why not overhaul the leadership? Every bad decision has come from the top. That might actually save the company.

This reminds me of ENRON. How could this happen ? Martin buddy, where were you ?

I know my success at Verizon or any job was attitude and adaptation.  It was also how quickly I could get good at the next challenge and make the changes I needed that would help me win.  Sounds easy, but it requires a full buy-in and positive mindset.  So far, what has changed?  Are we sold on the direction and does leadership value our buy-in?  I think transparency is a key to moving forward and calming fears.  I don't think this leadership team has shown anything of the sort.  It's easy to tell a future failed leader by both actions and inaction.  If the entire team isn't on board then "you ain't winning".  We are lost and a plan hasn't even been clearly laid out for our success.  Again, the company is trying to do this without us.  Only when we are a team and valued will we succeed.  Hate to break the news... we are still not valued.  They count on us to do the lifting but don't give us reason, respect or credit.  When the employees are here for more than a paycheck you win.  When we are here for the team and to help Verizon win then we will become a different company.  When leadership fights FOR us and makes US first then and only then will Verizon change and become a leader.  This leader failed in his first message and it's been downhill from there. 

What is the long-term value creation for shareholders that leadership is constantly talking about?

We have invested so much on an awesome team and leadership in PC chips

Lofthouse came to Toronto and his biggest concern was not being able to shop from whole foods. Here people are loosing their livelihood and his concern is luxury shopping shopping. What is wrong with this people?

why cant we elect our C suite like we elect government officials lol
Let's make american companies great again!

We “must” all lean into AI and it’s now a “core leadership competency.”

Honestly I’m more upset about AI being forced down our throats than about RTO. Anyone else?

Dan ask yourself what is an IEN and how are the ADs in North Jersey losing Verizon millions of dollars in revenue by changing missed due dates??

All roles are on the list for 2/19. Sales/clinical/office. No rhyme or reason other than saving dollars to shore up the failing bottom line for Wall Street. The irony is that the c suite is creating this constant downward spiral because of their failure to listen to the market and re-invent the business to stay relevant. History has seen this exact scenario play out time and time again in business. The ego’s and audacity of the current leadership to think “they will be different and make it work” is what every other leader in a failed organization thought as well. The real losers in their game are the low level workers and members.

I’m being straightforward here: I’m not keeping my money in Fiserv anymore. In 2025, I tried to offset some of the losses by buying as we slid, hoping we’d stabilize. Looking at my vested RSUs now is just discouraging. In a single year, we lost nearly 75% of our value. I know it’s technically a paper loss, but it’s hard to see it as anything other than a disincentive.

We also haven’t seen meaningful insider investment from leadership. It feels like we’re in a defensive crouch — holding ground, cutting costs, and trying to ride out the storm. I still believe this company can turn things around, but 2025 took a lot of the loyalty out of me.

As we head into Tuesday’s announcement, all we can really do is hope together. With the lack of clarity and vision from the top, hope is the only thing we’ve been given.

what is your red line regarding CC and V performance that would cause you to say, ok, now we have to act?

My take is that Services & Strategy is the most useless area of IT thanks to the SVP that Smurphy hired (surprise surprise). All they have done is introduced a dumpster fire of a process to "manage" demand and a half-baked attempt to prepare for RTO. Thoughts?

MW and JG talking about AI like it's going to change their world.

Maybe it is. We see it in other parts of the world, part of people's day to day. It takes talent, and the talent is leaving.

If I had to guess, the average PSG of the AI team is probably not higher than 22.
All the people working on the data have also exited the company because of the BS and lack of confidence in our completely disconnected leaders.

JG and LC would rather spend tens of millions of dollars on BCG and McKinsey or EY rather than just pay a fraction of that to retain the talent that was here.

The world's best AI practitioners are not dinosaurs like the consultants with MBAs that JG and LC are bringing in. and the ENGINE strategy for AI is a fantasy at best. It's sad that these leaders have completely neutered what was a team with good talent.

No one wants to work for these puppets guided by management consultants who have practically zero experience in AI. If you're using the same consultants who have been here over a decade or two, what are the chances that they know what they're doing?

did the VZ board just get a bargain bin version of the microsoft, google CEOs?

Anyone know what the impacts are yet from Julie's announcements? I left in Summer 2024, and I have been interviewing to come back. The final round has been on hold until the set the final organizational changes. Seems the leaders dont have a clue what's up in USBU, GPD(now international).
Any hints?