How does everyone feel about their manager at Cisco? I have never had worse. The engagement pulse, the 1:1 meetings are so fake. The lack of even trying to help with a question is staggering. On the recorded team meetings you hear from managemnt “if you need help with anything, reach out”, but when you reach out you get sent to someone else or you just get a “no, not possible”. There is noone else to go to, because everyone is on the same page.
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I was a Team Lead over the years. My biggest difficulty was non-support from my manager, directors, and VPs. We were stuck using tools that didn't work, and there was no funding to fix them or get better ones. Processes were stupidly designed, and nobody wanted to improve them. Great ideas are all shot down. Even cheap ideas are shot down. But we can cut thousands of jobs, fund a Mclaren race team, get g2 a $200k watch, etc.
@jt That just reminded me of v2momma; everybody knew it was just BS and a waste of time, we all diligently completed our V2MOM on time, even scheduled meetings with all the team so we could all copy and paste and submit on time.
For me the biggest problem is that we have a blotated, non-technical, management and ELT; they have no clue about technology or what we are selling, they just know how to prop the stock price and got themselves surrounded by yes men, so all their idiocy and nonsense is never challenged.
This is exactly my manager! My manager didn’t even lead our weekly meetings. Each team member is responsible to lead on a rotating schedule.
Cisco management style from top to bottom is “shut up and just do it”. If anyone tries to oppose get would get laid off. Happened to great managers who really cared. Pure dictatorship.
Management here is the worst I've ever seen, a hypocritical and irresponsible group.
My manager is awesome. She will back me up and if not she’ll tell me why. She’s politically savvy and has my back. I’ve worked at Cisco for almost two decades, she is the best manager in all those years. Can’t say enough good things.
There are far more bad managers than good unfortunately.
On the SE side, I have a great rapport with my direct manager, and also with my director. They are in general supportive, transparent, good career coaches. They were both SEs themselves and they know and appreciate the role, and I can bring them into customer meetings and they add value. The issue is when you get to senior leadership, the higher you go the worse it gets and the more you have management decisions made by spreadsheets and hallucinating AI bots.
And then up to the executive level, it's the worst. Like a bunch of politicians, completely out of touch with the front line people they supposedly represent and look after. Might as well be a bunch of meteorologists giving sunshine forecasts from inside the eye of a hurricane.
Just wait 1 or 2 quarters after OT's re-org of the sales team to hear what a raging success it is, because you know it will have to be. Also like politicians, they can make the statistics say anything they want.
@be you are wrong, they are all parasites. hired/placed by their buddies at higher places. you are just a salve.
@d2 its their overly outrageous ego of SrDIR and above.. Most of the SrDIR are hires or buddies of VPs.. so they all have ego all the way to SVP. emperor has no cloths. Most of these VPs are new and mostly parasites.
when we listen to EVPs and hear their vision, i have hope. When i join an All Hands the next day and the day after that and the day after that is when we see the telephone game in action and the need for the flattening. Do the needful and flatten it, the only people that will complain are people with BMW Leases, $1million dollar homes, and $50k vacations. They deserve it . 86 them already
Managers not the problem. It's the Sr Director and above that is the issue, especially the VP's. They are legacy dinosaurs who are incompetent beyond belief that destroy the culture, products, and driving company to ground. Most only have their roles due to politics not ability, skillset or capabilities. Most incompetent senior leadership all the way up to ELT and CEO in the entire industry at cisco.
There are as many different types of managers as there are people. Some are great while others are not. I really like my current boss but I've had a few in the past that I loathed (who are no longer with the company.)
They are not managers they are "Leaders" :)
My current Cisco manager is easily the worst I’ve ever had in my career. Doesn’t really protect the team at all, so there are just constant distractions.
I have the pleasure of being managed by a first time manager at 50+ with ambitions of climbing the ladder by pushing team to perform at much higher level to get exposure. apparently no management training and only range is repeating jargon and being a non active participant in meetings. there's more apathy from the director level up than current manager,
My manager is genuinely great. My director doesn’t let them have a relationship with their skip report.
Gaslighting galore,. "PIP anyone who asks questions" and "push out anyone who is too good for the outfit" was the management policy at Cisco UK before I left in disgust few years ago. Those were the days of CP and DM and the reign of the DEI hires. Incapable, unqualified bunch of buffoons imposing a mafia-like culture of intimidation via their HR drones. Till to date I have not understood how an half-a$$ed DevNet marketing guy like CP got promoted to the Director of the SE team. Completely destroyed a thriving tech community in the UK. I hear CP and his serial hubris have now apparently moved onto pollute the entire EMEA and DM has bu-----d off completely. But their cronies are still around, the poison is still there, and the same tradition continues. Cisco is a place where professionals go to die.