Executive Rascality: Memoir of a Technology Expert

After the M&A of two major clubs, almost the entire Team D took flight, creating a vacuum and burden on Team A, and consequently resulting in off-sides, back passes, faulty passes, own goals, and at times penalties. It's hard to blame these players who chose to stay behind despite all the criticisms?from the break-away faction, they have been training day?and night without sleep or overtime, and most don't have their personal life again as a result of placing the club's?interest above theirs. The news of the popular sporting director descending into the pitch to decide who plays which wing, and with how many yellow and red cards (and in most cases match ban and contract termination) filled the entire transfer market. Most players that trained relentlessly to ensure the club maintains its leadership position on the league table were conspicuously ignored, and those players who are mere bench warmers and kit keepers take all the glory, shine, and promotion to the first team. The transfer market was agog with this recklessness, and recruiting new players became a pipe dream. Despite the vacuum, committed players were deprived of their playing time and match bonuses, and it's not always long before a scout that knows the worth of the players comes poaching. The ultimate losers are not just the players, various teams, or the league divisions, but the football club. The maltreatment and poor players’ welfare?were well known to the club management, but everyone seems helpless and handicapped, leaving the players at the mercy of their hopeless fate.?The?dearth?of quality players makes the team weak, loose, and lacking confidence. The traumatic moment made playing in another club less enticing, even with all the offers, and the only option was to switch leagues.??

The role of executives in the affairs of an organization cannot be?overstated. Like the sailor on a ship, executives are responsible for making high-level decisions, setting strategic goals, and overseeing the overall direction of a company or a specific department within a company.?But when executives descend to the lowest part of the arena, then things could go out of control. A sailor will not leave the deck for the coal room unless a major problem warrants his attention. Such misadventures or misplaced priorities, which are usually?spurred?more by personal or?idiosyncratic?interest, tend to undermine the subordinates down the cadre and consequently lead to erosion of self-esteem and sense of belonging.?This in most cases is an?unethical behavior exhibited by some executives that could violate legal and ethical standards, often with the intention of personal gain or advantage at the expense of the organization or its stakeholders.??

??This is pervasive in most organizations, especially where there is little or no structure or process. Some execs capitalize on this, to?show?a predilection for?family members or close associates in hiring, promotions, or contract awarding, rather than based on merit. While some executives develop and implement strategic plans, analyze market trends, identify opportunities and risks, and make decisions that shape the direction of the organization, some make choices that prioritize short-term profits over long-term sustainability, disregarding the welfare of employees, customers, or the organization.?An interview with former top and middle managers to understand why Nokia failed showed that the failure was not due to inferior phone hardware, but instead an organizational fear, grounded in a culture of temperamental and?capricious?leaders and frightened middle managers, scared of telling the truth for the fear of repercussion.?History has it that the Blackberry was once the ultimate status symbol, and nobody could fathom having any other type of smartphone. But a penchant for?nepotism and promotions based on tenure rather than on skills and potential?were some of the organic causes of?Blackberry's?undoing.?

??In different leadership capacities, I have seen different excos engaged in activities that contradict the norms, tenets, and dictates of?professionalism. I have been forced to make irrational decisions that add little or no value to the organization. Decisions I am not entirely proud of, considering my pedigree, prowess, and towering standard for excellence.?There is an erroneous belief that because excos have several MBAs, possibly from Ivy League schools, they have better financial literacy, but events have shown otherwise. I once worked for a major institution where I was compelled by an executive to replace a tier 1 internet service provider (and arguably the best in Africa) with a tier 2 at almost double the cost of the service. The argument: tier 2 gets service from multiple tier 1s, hence they will have better redundancy and Business Continuity (BC), even though words on the street suggest the decision was more parochial than logical or strategic. This executive recklessness is very?ubiquitous?and should be discouraged. Executive interference is one of the major reasons most tech experts and subject matter experts (SMEs) chose to?migrate to a saner and safer clime, where they will be free to explore their potential, value, and initiatives.?

??As an experienced and knowledgeable expert in the technology space, the importance of effective leadership is well understood. I make?critical decisions that affect the overall performance and success of an organization; I evaluate options and input from various angles and stakeholders and choose the best course of action. Never have I?abused my authority to intimidate, harass, or discriminate against fellow employees, vendors, or clients, or to exert undue influence over business decisions. My greatest achievement is qualitative and quantitative cost-saving initiatives and human capital development, judging from the numerous subordinates I mentored and tutored, and now?tech experts scattered all over the globe.?Even in a highly toxic environment, I have always made my stand known – written or verbal. When the influence and directives of senior management are not in tandem with the aim and aspiration of the organization or known best practices, I ensure my professional advice and subject expert position are well documented. I have been compelled to deploy multi-million-dollar solutions, that should not have been, sack innocent vendors, breastfeed, midwife, pamper and prefer vendors that are conspicuously?below par. Replacing a standalone and one-off branch telecoms solution that have optional maintenance cost, with another solution that consumes the meager bandwidth of the branch is not as appalling as the unnecessary and ridiculously expensive annual maintenance cost incurred. This was against all feasibility and sustainability reports presented.???

??As a network team lead of one of the biggest institutions in the country, I have sat on multi-million-dollar annual budgets, with effective and prudent yearly budget performance, and little or no extra-budgetary requests. I allocate resources such as funds, personnel, and assets to support the organization's strategic goals, at the same time prioritize initiatives, and ensure resources are used efficiently.?As a staff, and having saved organizations substantial costs, by single-handedly deploying network (campus and WAN) and data center solutions in at least 5 countries and upgraded at least the same number of networks and DCs, my reputation and expertise always precede me.?I once brought an?initiative?to the organization that saves hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly. As a new hire of a bank that was about to double the network link bandwidth of almost 300 branches, a critical and deep-dive traffic analysis of the branch network link shows an avalanche of unwanted traffic that should be pegged, rescheduled, delayed, or?outrightly dropped. With the implementation of a Quality of Service (QoS) solution, that ensured prioritization of critical traffic like core-banking applications, voice, database, internet, and mobile app traffic, the latency (turnaround time) of the link dropped from around 100ms to about 20ms, with a noticeable impact on the Quality of Experience (QoE) of the users. The mass upgrade didn’t happen again until several years later when a network upgrade was to be rolled out.??

??Talking about the network upgrade, the timing and need of the implementation as well as the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) is still being debated since the roll-out was enforced a few years ago. This network automation solution?conceptually?offers numerous benefits, including improved network performance, scalability, flexibility, enhanced security, centralized management, and support for cloud environments. But what is of most importance to the organization, is the relative and comparative value it brings, and how that value commensurate with the cost of investment. Replacing a legacy solution that is proving needed value, has very little Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), and zero recurrent cost (except for optional maintenance and support cost), with a highly expensive solution with profit-eroding and mandatory yearly license/support cost is something that needs further research and thesis work on finance, strategy and operations management. And it becomes more interesting when the branches, affiliates, subsidiaries, and SBU don’t make up for the recurrent cost of this solution in profit.?The issue in this context is not the solution, having been a solution and tech expert for almost two decades, my ethical standard and loyalty is to the employer, and not OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), vendors, or marketers. A tech expert that believes in throwing money into perceived problems, instead of bringing cost-saving initiatives, is probably still learning the trade, or placing personal interest above the organization’s interest – highly unprofessional and unethical.???

??It is essential to note that executive rascality is not representative of all executives or the executive role. The vast majority of executives I have worked with act ethically and responsibly, fulfilling their obligations to the organization and its stakeholders. Instances of executive rascality are typically isolated cases and can have severe consequences for the individuals involved and the organizations they represent.?When an executive enforces solutions on Subject Matter Expert (SME), then something is highly wrong. An executive or senior manager that does not trust the various heads and leads in his BU and instead decides to engage, direct, threaten, suspend, and expel ordinary staff members need a course in leadership and human management. Having been a victim myself, I can confidently say that such an act, no matter in what capacity or how highly placed such an executive is, is?atrocious and abhorrent, and hurts the entire fabric of the organization. An exec should not be the one to determine who gets what, who goes on training, who goes on vacation or not, which vendor or OEM to use, which solution to deploy, and who is promoted or fired. This is the responsibility of various head and human resource teams. An exec provides guidance, mentorship, and support to employees,?as well as fosters a positive work culture that encourages professional and organizational growth.???

Sanity eventually prevailed on the football pitch as the hunter sporting director became the hunted, but it was too little too late. The rascality has been left to fester for too long, leading to talent erosion with a significant impact on the book of the organization. This is not to cast aspersions on anyone's character, but to let it be known that leaders play a crucial role in shaping the culture of an organization. They set the tone, values, and norms through their actions and behaviors. A leader who promotes transparency, collaboration, and innovation can foster a positive and productive culture, while a leader who lacks integrity or fails to lead effectively may create a negative or toxic culture in the workspace, resulting in nothing but "sorrow, tears, and blood".