"Pity City" | The God Problem

Hope you’re having a great April. April showers bring May flowers and I’m sure Andi Owen is looking forward to the showers being over. 

“Pity City:” Andi Owen was the story this week; here’s a good summary from Vice, here’s a YouTube of what happened, and here’s the tweet that launched all this. Basically, Owen is the CEO of MillerKnoll, which is a massive office furniture company. As you’d expect, she had some healthy bonuses during COVID. At the end of a Zoom call, a manager asked – logical question – “Hey, times seem tough right now. What could we be doing to boost morale?” Owen responded (this is from Vice):

“Don't ask about: What are we going to do if we don’t get a bonus?” she asked. “Get the damn $26 million. Spend your time and your effort thinking about the $26 million we need and not thinking about what you’re going to do if you don’t get a bonus. Alright? Can I get some commitment for that?” Then, she whispered for emphasis: “I would appreciate that.” (The $26 million is an internal metric that the company was unwilling to discuss publicly.)

Then she made some kind of mic drop movement to end with a bang. Once the clip went viral, every hot take was about “This CEO values money more than employees.” Maybe. I don’t know Andi Owen, but she probably does value money and driving whatever specific contract the $26M refers to. Most CEOs do value those things.

Her primary mistake though was her delivery.  Even if you are frustrated by execution-level workers asking for a bonus in a down year, you need to have compassion for the experience they’re having otherwise you come across as entitled, heartless and out of touch. 

What should she have said?

What my boyfriend says whenever I am in pity city… “That must be really hard.” Because as Andi said “you can VISIT pity city…” and sometimes we just want to be seen. And then once my boyfriend has acknowledged my experience I feel ready to end my visit to pity city. For Andi, that looks like leading with love, understanding and compassion. Then explain the finances, be transparent, explain how employees could increase responsibility and find new avenues to win, etc. 

The basic thing that drives any culture is the experiences of the employees. The problem with Andi Owen’s approach here is that it created a negative experience, which develops counterproductive beliefs. You’re basically blaming the employees for a deal not closing, and mocking them in the process (“pity city” was a repeated phrase). 

It’s a master class on how not to do this. If someone asks you about bonuses, be transparent about money with them. Be transparent about opportunities. We’re all feeling the inflation burn. We all have questions about making ends meet (well, most of us). We want to know what’s going on at our companies and what the possibilities are. Senior leaders can do better here.

And the fact that this went viral is just further evidence that culture and brand are one in the same in today’s social media world. On to other news…

Faith and work: Davis Smith, the CEO of Cotopaxi shared this post on LinkedIn about bringing your whole self to work, including your religious beliefs, and I loved the leader quotes he shared and thought of the excellent work you continue to do and wanted to send them along:

Pat Gelsinger - CEO of Intel Corporation

"Today, there's a lot of discussion on diversity and inclusion. It turns out that, for humanity, over 70% of all humans on the earth claim that faith is an or the most important thing in their lives. So, if we're going to talk about diversity and inclusion but we're not going to allow faith in the workplace, I'm telling 70% of humanity, 'No, the most important thing to you can't come into the workplace.' So, of course, 'diversity and inclusion' means faith has to come into the workplace. It needs to be visible."

Dan Schulman - CEO of PayPal

"We believe all employees have the right to bring their whole self to work. Faith and worldviews are core to who we are--our values and beliefs--and to how we conduct business."

Haviv Ilan - CEO of Texas Instruments

"For many employees, their faith is the foundation of their core values and self-identity. When you're able to bring your full self to work, employees are more engaged and collaborative."

Davis Smith - CEO of Cotopaxi

"We've made a lot of progress as a society in welcoming people to be their full and authentic selves at work. However, religion has often been left out of the conversation. Eighty-two percent of the global population identifies as religious, but they are often afraid to openly share that part of themselves at work."

I love talking about God but in the workplace it’s a tricky tightrope to walk. 

What’s your take on faith and work?

Are we losing the idea of HOW to work? A big concern among senior leaders has gone from “Nobody wants to work anymore” (a 2020-2021 narrative) to “Nobody seems to know how to work anymore,” meaning there’s a pace and priority problem – that, ironically, is often a problem created by senior leaders.

Leaders need to have more active conversations, be transparent, be empathetic, define priorities, and ask employees what they need and what they want from work. A lot of managers don’t love doing this because it’s “another thing to manage,” but this is the work – guide and develop people, set priority, etc. If you want some examples of excellent senior leadership in action, here are some great Culture Partners client case studies. If you spend the time cultivating others, it’s one of the most rewarding things you can do as a professional. Honestly. 

More on this next week.

Should we shut down AI development? Sometimes, I think so. I do use ChatGPT for things periodically. Obviously I have automated functions in my life. But I thought this article, in Time, is something everyone should read. Tell me what you think. 

Drill your people on purpose: Here’s a good clip from my CEO, Joe Terry, about how to drill down on purpose. Talk about it enough until people get it, from the CEO’s lieutenants to the night watchman. 

Other things I’m currently watching and thinking about:

• Could a focus on “interculturalism” help us with DEI? 
• Should “love” be an aspect of work cultures?
• How do you make people give a sh*t – about work, but about other things as well (i.e. parenting, their neighbors, etc.)?
• Are Americans increasingly less mobile?

What else is on your mind, that you’d like to see us discuss in future articles, videos, IG posts, and newsletters?