Executives today have to watch what they say more than ever before. Make a controversial statement and you better be prepared for that to become public within the next 30-60 minutes. Steve Ballmer reportedly has nightmares about every word he utters ending up on a blog.
Over at Yahoo, Brad Garlinghouse (an influentual SVP), has issued a scathing document that speaks to Yahoo's lack of a cohesive strategy. He had to have known this would become public knowledge, but at the same time this is comparable to airing your dirty laundry for everyone in the neighborhood to see (not really a good idea). The entire memo was reprinted by the Wall Street Journal and provides a glimpse at some of the internal struggles Yahoo is currently facing. This SVP is critical of Yahoo's desire "to do everything and be everything -- to everyone" and likens this approach to spreading peanut butter.
Garlinghouse nails a critical component that most corporate execs today avoid like the plague - accountability.
"I believe there are too many BU leaders who have gotten away with unacceptable results and worse -- unacceptable leadership. Too often they (we!) are the worst offenders of the problems outlined here. We must signal to both the employees and to our shareholders that we will hold these leaders (ourselves) accountable and implement change."
All companies face similar cultural problems as they grow and it appears that Yahoo is no exception. If Garlinghouse gets the opportunity to implement the changes he feels are critical to the companies continued success, it will be interesting to see what changes might occur at the highest levels.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment