I’m somewhat skeptical. First of all, we lost a lot of talent during badly managed layoffs. They were done only with cost-cutting in mind and without a thought about the future of the company. Second, he is an old guard. Can the old guard save us today? I certainly wish so. But I have a feeling we need something distinct and creative within the current context, a lightning in the bottle to surge forward.
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So much damage has been done and remember the culture shift started before JD. JD was just the icing on the cake and was the driving force of why many left on their own in 2020. Even EH left in 2020.
He can help build a new culture and as we know but that will take years. There’s no doubt a shift in priorities is coming and I worry about even more reorgs coming. He will just have a better message and demeanor to calm the storm.
In my area, only 3 of us are the same out of 50+ people in just 4 years. I don’t recognize a person in my building outside my area. People changing is fine but not in 4 years and really, majority was about 24 months. That’s not including the thousands of jobs that haven’t been replaced. That number is insanely high.
Let’s not forget than none of are the same since Covid. No one and no matter what side of the fence you’re on, we’re all different. So many of us are constantly sick and run down. Like exhausted. Heck, 2 on my team are in meds from long Covid and can barely walk a straight line since January.
It’s just still crazy out there and top leaders just want to ignore those issues and pretend like it’s not happening. Their goal is to force us back to normalcy when that’s impossible. That factor alone is going to take years for everyone, no less Nike.
Let's hope for the best
They could have brought in a saint and I don’t think anyone can change a self serving leadership culture.
Before MP - good ol’ boy network
Under MP- you had misogynistic behavior and he didn’t stop it until its front page.
Under JD - key females now proliferate poor behavior.
They could have brought in Mother Teresa and it won’t change behavior or culture of self serving hierarchy. But that’s what you get with a sports company.
I wish him the best of luck. I hear nothing but amazing things!
Nah. It is a recipe for disaster when you lay off a lot of talented people solely with cost-reduction in mind. While it's good for boosting the morale of the employees, the rot is deep. A lot of folks from the existing ELT need to be kicked out for Nike to make meaningful change for the better.
Nah… but he’ll be a great morale booster for the masses and that is worth something. Hope in other words and hope while great is never a plan.
It won’t happen overnight, that’s for sure. And more changes in management need to happen. It’ll be a long journey ahead, but I think EH is a great person to kick off that journey, restore morale and focus, pull together the right veterans, until it needs to be passed on to the next set of leaders. How long until that pass off? Who knows.