Seriously, though. Does management really believe we think of them as our Leaders? Manager and Leader are two separate things and I certainly do not see our XOM management (especially middle management) as leading us in any way. All they do is socialize all day and TALK about work, instead of actually contributing deliverable work.
I cringe when I hear "Leadership Team", "Leaders", etc.
You are not a Leader. You are a Manager.
In their mind they are overpaid micromanaging baby sitters. Most are professional parrots. Steal ideas and take credit for the real workers efforts. They are then patted on the head so they repeat the effort the next day. Pretty pathetic actually
@1yru+1dbCKjhF Maybe in Virtual Reality, XOM is a successful company!
Just go check the last LinkedIn post of Mike Woke Deal, the VP of the digital transformation: “yesterday’s technology tomorrow”.
He touts the company tardiness and sloppiness as tech leadership.
If to be a leader means you 1. Get a huge paycheck and benefits 2. Have zero concept of what the company needs 3. Have no clue what employees need/want for retention 4. Refuse to take off the rose colored glasses to see wtf is going, then they got it covered.
I was a leader when I was working for ExxonMobil.
My leadership skills entailed listening to rubbish procedural arguments from my id--tic brain washed bosses.
My leadership entailed making and finessing powerpoint bullets over and over again until my one slide has ensured me and three layers of bosses above me - manager to VP to President all look good for future fat raises.
My leadership entailed seriously talking about holding handrails and watching employees write 100+ useless safety sharing in a month all on company time and dime.
My leadership entailed watching many useless employees do no useful work year after year and still manage a high salary and career progresses by just portraying leadership skills without producing nothing valuable and sooking up to people like me and other managers 100% of the time.
I can go on and on .. YES I WAS AN UPSTREAM EMPLOYEE AND A LEADER. I AM GLAD THAT I LEFT THAT STUPID PLACE A LONG TIME AGO!
They have no concept of "Leadership" and no ability to actually lead a team or inspire others towards a common goal. Starts at the top and goes all the way down. Heaven forbid the executive team would have to interact with or be seen with the everyday grunts, much safer in the God Pod.
XOM Managers are just that, the only reason they have any authority or power is their title and the hierarchical system that has been set up around them. XOM becomes more tolerable when you understand it is just a giant project management firm who relies on their process and standards to justify everything, no need for people who can deal with uncertainties or nuances.
You will find a few natural leaders around the company, but they are few and far between; as most bail when they realize their effort isn't rewarded and playing the system doesn't align with what they want to accomplish.
They are leaders at not making decisions. What is the point of DOAG if nobody is going to use it? Why do we have high management approval requirement for travel/conference/3rd party costs for budgets that have already been approved? We are professionals trust us to do our job. We all know every spring we are on the chopping block.