Man, there are so many posts on this board bashing team managers, Dir's and Sr Dir's. And sure, there are most definitely SOME that totally su-k and aren't worth their salary. But a good portion of them are in the same boat as all the rest of you, except, they are being held accountable to results in this fu---d up situation. They were told about layoffs at the same time as everyone else, have zero insight and information to help their teams navigate this, have nothing to offer when they are asked questions CONSTANTLY and have no opportunity to provide insight to the importance of the work their teams do and advocate for why people on their team shouldn't be laid off. And they are contending with the idea that they may also be let go themselves. People leaders are being asked to do the most with teams who are burnt out, unmotivated and uninspired right now and there is no leverage to turn anything around until we all get through this. So when you see managers leaning in and "micro managing" it could be that they are trying to make sure that work gets delivered so they can show the value their people bring to the business. It's so ridiculous to spread the narrative that everyone Dir level and above have some hidden agenda and are out to get you when they will probably be the last to know of changes happening to their teams if they aren't let go themselves.
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For years my sr manager, director and sr director have failed to model respectful behavior. Empathy is given to those who have the capacity and willingness to show it. Reap what you've sewn.
I worked with some amazing people at Nike in leadership positions... and some really clueless people... but no matter how competent (or not) you are as a people manager Nike doesn't empower it's managers to succeed. Case and point: Dir, Sr. Dir, and even VPs generally have very little control over fundamental elements of people management: departmental budgets... team working dynamics... hiring and advancement.... organizational growth and targets... Your Sr. Dir has zero control over any of it. Seems like everything is passed down from either HR, CF or ELT. I would love to know what level you have to be at to have the authority to do basic things like decide your team's in-office/WFH split, break layoff news to your team in the least harmful manner for your people, or do any of the other things middle managers do every day in other places.
You ball have a choice. If it's too much, thrn don't stay. This is Nike now. Be a leader and work to change it or GTFO. Stop crying here.
They really don’t know anything either. ELT made their decisions already and we are all feeling the pain together. I can’t believe we have to do this for two more weeks
@2gvs that's not what any of these posters are saying. None of us signed up for a sh-t sandwich but it's our role to put the team first always. A lot of people very obviously don't feel that's being done well enough or worse, that self serving "leaders" are busy justifying their existence at the team's expense. It's a pretty observable truth and if we're being honest, bad leadership is why we're in this mess.
None of us get some empathy pass because our people don't think we have their back. That's called feedback and it's an opportunity to step forward. Kicking problems downhill because 'I'm in the dark too' isn't leadership at all, it's just bad. The rifd sd example below is how everyone should be acting.
All you people saying that "this is what you signed up for." Nah. No one signs up to lead a team in a company that is paralyzed and sitting in layoff purgatory. I don't think anyone could successfully lead a team of people right now. No matter how you approach leading right now, it's going to miss the mark. Work is happening sure, but X-functional work is slow, people are checked out, strategies are confusing, and people are questioning whether jobs and teams will even exist in two months time. No one signed up for THAT and even the best leaders are flailing right now. Everyone has an opinion on what it takes to be a people/team leader until they have had to do it with zero information and resources.
And yet, if you have accepted a leadership role, you accept all that comes with it and get compensated accordingly. Do right by your people as your leader should do right by you. Your team is not a group of servants nor a source there just for you to drain. When my Dir is competing with me and stepping in to things that are not even their skillset just to try to look good, it serves nobody.
As an SD who was let go in Phase 1 my experience has been the following:
- started at Nike as an IC. Loved my job!!
- promoted to Dir. Loved my job, lucky to have had some great SD & VP leaders.
- “promoted” to Dir reporting to a VP. Role moved me deeper into the politics that I’d been mostly shielded from in previous roles. Had some amazing VP leaders but also had some absolutely terrible VPs that lacked empathy, respect, and knowledge but seemed to get ahead because they were bullies.
- promoted to SD after working my a** off and doing the SD job w/o the pay for a couple of YEARS. Fully immersed in the politics now. Awful VP, that tolerated no dissent, created a culture of fear amongst their directs, and took credit for all the work despite being laughably ignorant on what the teams did. Loved my team, tolerated my job hoping to get a new VP eventually.
- cue to FY24. Zero communication about the layoffs and immediate hand slap if I brought up the topic or the impact to employees of the zero comms strategy. Personally aware I was in the danger zone for being one of the more vocal dissenters (not bragging, just not great at keeping my mouth shut when the issue is impacting human beings). Decided I had nothing to lose, hated my VP & job, but loved my work & team, so kept pushing for more comms and info and readily shared with my team cause we do not deserve to live in fear for MONTHS. Disgusted by how JD and CIO handled this for GT. Laid off. Unemployed. Happier than I’ve been in years.
Just because we’re in SD roles does not mean we aren’t human too or impacted by the sh!tty decisions made above our grade. We have way less power than many of you seem to think we have. Are their bad SDs - sure, but that rule applies to every level. I realize as a leader being a bad one has a greater impact on more people so the public flogging of leaders is to be expected. Just wanted to put some perspective straight from the source for context. Many of us care deeply about being good leaders, our teams, and our company.
Everyone wants to be a leader until its time to do leader sh-t. Asking for empathy in this situation is a bit laughable. Its your JOB'S ENTIRE PURPOSE in a leadership role to LEAD through the chaos and confusion. The reason it seems many lack said empathy is because we have a lot of MANAGERS and very rarely leaders at Nike.
Don't expect a break because you SIGNED UP for this exact duty and collect the check for it. If this isn't what you thought it was going to be, then step out so someone else can step up. I'm sure that sounds harsh, but when leadership is so unforgivably trivialized, it should.
10 years at Nike and I had a good manager for a few years, because he was a well respected IC veteran. Then they laid him off. Subsequently, I had a few director types as managers who were some version of the following
- zero/negative subject matter expertise, terrible at communication, fearful of other directors/vps
- the politicking & credit stealing type who spent most of their time not at work, and I'd have like 2 conversations each half and its usually them sh-t talking some other leaders
I don't see much from directors most of the time other than an unwillingness to put poor performers on improvement plans. They just wait until hopefully they are reorged away. Some try but then get no support from their colleagues or leaders above them. They are leaders in title only.
Most if them don’t deserve empathy. They have been in this empire building mode for as long as we can remember. So please. Empathy for individual contributors, fir sure.
@uzv+1rTd7a3H Direction is something that is cascaded. And I can tell you that very few at any level are getting direction right now. Leading people with absolutely nothing nothing to work with is impossible. People leaders aren’t magicians.
Think of the leaders that may lose a pound of flesh over this!!!
Appreciate that directors & SD are also going through this tough time. But they aren’t they supposed to be people LEADERS? We have no direction. I see no leadership. And it’s frustrating. As IC we are still doing all the daily work. And the directors I work with are… making sure we do it I guess. This is making it very clear to ME that we have too many layers of “management.”
Totally agree. I have an amazing director, and I feel for how difficult it must be to not know anything (including their own fate) while also trying to lead people. But they are also not micromanaging and trying to prioritize workload.