I have never seen as many political power plays at any corporate I’ve worked for as I have at Cisco. In Europe, many SVPs, VPs, GMs and Directors, who have been deeply entrenched for many years (often having completed the CSAP or technical programs together over 20 years ago or having known each other through other business relationships), tolerate and promote incompetent people and protect them and each other from layoffs. Layoff decisions are often based on favoritism rather than objective criteria, determining who stays and who goes. As a result, skilled employees are constantly leaving or being forced to leave, while the leadership stands by, protecting their lucrative salaries.. and the IC’s which they like. Why is this culture so prevalent at Cisco? Why don’t investors care that this internal politics are one of the main reasons Cisco is considered as a sinking ship and their money is literally burning away in the stock market?
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@vdh+1tr5dLKg not only in UKI… I know of a case in an other emea country where a new appointed MD (that person was realocated from abroad instead of choosing someone who is familiar with the country and its culture) drove in 2-3 years all members of the local management team who were „uncomfortable“ to that MD away and ruined in this short time the company culture in that country. Nobody likes that person there, but everyone is afraid to say anything because if they do, they are certain to be forced out latest at next LR round. In an organization that actively combats internal political powerplays, alarm bells should have been ringing long ago over such questionable events. But, as it stands, these people are well connected at the top. I will leave asap this org.
if there was more product engineering and growth at cisco, there would be less toxic politics. this company is a shell of a great company it once was 20 years ago
cisco mgmt if youre reading this, start innovating and taking better calculated risks. you keep entering sectors too late. you failed at cloud, now aws and azure are eating your lunch. you failed at apm, now datadog and dyatrace are king.
you better hope this splunk acquisition turns around before the wagons come circling yet again. get your act together cisco you've become the ibm of networking and it's sad
The politics cancer can’t exist unless leadership allows and promotes it. Best to change leaders than fix it… hint: Liz.
There is a management mafia in every region, and in every BU/Org in Cisco. I have seen double promotion in a year. Sr Director to VP. can you beat that. Their management circle promoting each other, party hard, steal credits from their report's work, travel world as much as they can. Left nothing to the employees. when we ask for promotion they have a list of reasons to fulfill. but the managers and director are immune to any rules. (C)Shucks is one of the main reason we have this culture. He never put right measures in place...just left the management to lead their own way. now from top layer CEO to 8 layers down...almost all are corrupted.
@enm+1tr5dLKg I agree. However, it should not be like that. Even in other tech companies, this political cancer is not as widespread as it is in Cisco EMEA.
I‘ve left Cisco EMEA some time ago, but I would agree 100%. You can be successful if you work hard and are a yes person. But strong results don’t get you anywhere, the key is that leadership likes you and you‘re not a threat. I have seen brilliant people failing, not because they were not performing, but they simply didn’t understand what the key to success is. This also means that almost all people leaders are like that: They need to be liked by management, so they don’t ask critical questions, come up with new ideas, or question any status quo. They are yes people, highly skilled in politics, but not leaders. People follow them out of fear or to get a promotion. It was hard to swallow for me but I have moved on.
This is absolutely true. As has been mentioned here several times, more true at Cisco UKI org than at anywhere else. This is a cesspool of politics and toxicity out here and yes, many genuine, loyal dedicated ICs have either been pushed out, LRed, put on PIP and bullied. The Sr. Director, Director, VP , MD all are complicit- so nothing ever gets rectified. This is the primary reason why business is spiralling down to oblivion in the UKI region. But we constantly hear the following two mantras:
- Change is the only constant.
- Best place to work in the U.K.
You try and address the issues and get immediately gaslighted and patronised. No Hope unless someone up there cleans the top first. Not much left in the bottom.