When confronted with accusations and lawsuits about misleading advertising related to 5G wireless networks, rather than rightfully acknowledge the confusion, both Randall Stephenson and John Donovan have doubled down on the lies by doing the corporate equivalent of saying "u mad, bro?" and "you're just jealous". This is not the behavior that should be expected of a company that internally promotes transparency and collaboration. This is the behavior of a company driven by greed that tries to change the narrative by repeating lies in an attempt to make everyone think they are true. Employees have been dealing with this for years and customers are now experiencing it first-hand.
Internally, this is causing incredible amounts of strife to employees, who are faced with re-org after re-org, surplus after surplus, and rumor after rumor of what the future holds for the company and for them personally. Upper management has forced a complete 180 on the employees with regard to skills pivoting and telecommuting. When the 2020 plan was first being formulated in the early-to-mid 2010s, there was a push for a more flexible workforce and many internal resources were provided showing the benefits to both employee and employer for allowing telecommuting arrangements. A few years later, the plan was reversed and the focus was placed on face-to-face collaboration with the weak justification that it was now needed due to the speed of business. Ambitious training plans had been developed to ensure the workforce was aligned with the company's ambitious plans. PLE training, mentor circles, nanodegrees, and tSpace badges were promoted internally as ways to remain relevant in the changing landscape, while externally Randall announced that he wanted to cut 1/3 of the workforce. Those who have left the company or are in the process of leaving are seeing firsthand that the training was no more than busywork and that other employers couldn't care less about it.
Quarterly town halls and emails about business results are another prime example of hypocritical communications. Internally, employees hear how great the company is doing, how much growth there was. Externally, they are barraged with the truth of the situation, about how debt-laden the company is and how poorly performing some of its services really are, and their 401ks reflect it as the stock price continues to decline.
The workforce is sick and tired of this two-faced approach to business. Employees don't want to be lied to. Customers don't want to be lied to. Be honest, be truthful, and be transparent with us. This "do as I say, not as I do" approach to leadership has no chance of success and will continue to decline the company's value and relevance in the changing world.