John needs to actually get in touch with his employees. The mark of a good leader is taking employee feedback and implementing that feedback to make this place better. The ability to listen is something he lacks. In fact, he's tone deaf. You know what John Donahoe needs to do? He needs to take a long look in the mirror, instead of pointing fingers. That's what real leaders do. He needs to hold his senior leadership team accountable, instead of throwing the cards away at lower levels and just shuffling the deck up top. You know what John really needs to do? He needs to stop wasting Nike money. Stop taking weekly weekend trips on the Nike jet to LA and to his main home in SF. Stop putting himself up in penthouse suite hotels when you travel on the road. You know what real leaders do? Real leaders put themselves on the line for the company and the thousands who make Nike what it is. They don't throw stones each opportunity they get in the press. A real leader is decisive, trustworthy and resilient. That leader empowers others to be elite. Good leaders are self-aware and you garner credibility because you do the right thing... not just the right thing when the cameras are on.
Don't blame the pandemic. Don't blame campus being closed. Don't blame the lack of innovation on people being away, working from home. John had the right people in the lab through the pandemic, working their collective as--s off. Day and night.
There was a time for John here at Nike, but that time is gone. Nike is void of leadership and that doesn't start with you or me. It starts from the top down and we don't have that.
John, I respect you as a person and wish nothing but the best for you, but it's time to step down and let a real leader lead. I don't have clarity in your vision, and for the first time in 20 years here, I have no idea what direction you want to take this company. What do you want us to be? Are we a tech company, or are we a shoe an apparel company dedicated to making athletes around the planet better? It's time to get back to our roots and mend the relationships you and other leaders have so quickly severed.
Go Nike - GO away, John.