Following my reply in the previous entry to the now infamous
Dollar Bill letter [thank you ber144 for that apt nickname], I received
this email from someone who is rooting for us. I'm printing it with permission.
Greetings Mrs. L,
. . .This is
the same Bill who almost exactly a year ago to the day held a phone conference
and fired the entire remote staff of AOL. These are the people who managed
community (see the common thread?) He was just as condescending and
asinine then. He also had the poor judgement to email all employees
(including the 700+ he just canned) after the conference with "We've
dropped the dead weight and it will be smooth sailing from here." Of course we
were all placated with "the lawyers told him exactly what to say, someone messed
up, you weren't supposed to get that email..." The more things change, the
more they stay the same.
AOL no longer cares about community. Community was not paying the
bills. Ads pay the bills.
Jaded Former AOL employee
Once upon a time in her checkered career, Mrs. Linklater was a vice president at one of the
largest ad agencies in the world. She has seen the likes of the Bill
Schreiner types up close and personal, both inside the agency and working with clients.
There are two kinds of people in his position:
The ones who make you
think you are capable of achieving the impossible and give the you freedom
to soar.
The others who only trust themselves, treat you like you're incompetent, and have to control everything.
You become what your boss says you are. First as an individual. Then as a company.
I think AOL's problems only appear to be financial; in reality, they're more likely a failure of leadership.
Unfortunately most companies confuse leadership with finance. But when
a company takes care of its people, the money takes care of itself.
Also a good healthplan, maybe daycare, job sharing, one of those nice baskets during the holidays -- these also help.
NOTE: You can link to my new blog over there at the bottom of my Other Journals list. Or try this link:
http://askmrslinklater.blogspot.com/
ALSO check out Separation Anxiety's new place and his take on the Bill Schreiner letter [yesterday's post]:
http://redsneakz.blogspot.com/
11 comments:
I remember the group firing very well. A dear friend of mine, who worked from home, all night long hosting chat rooms was canned. She was devistated. She loved the job, loved the folks she got to know and wondered what she did wrong. Nothing my dear, I would tell her...it's AOL at their finest.
Ha! Love your title too & "Dollar Bill" that is AWESOME! HA!
"The ones who make you think you are capable of achieving the impossible and give the you freedom to soar.
The others who only trust themselves, treat you like you're incompetent, and have to control everything.
You become what your boss says you are. First as an individual. Then as a company."
Whoa....man thanks for that! Did that every speak to me today! You have no idea! A story for later perhaps but your first line reminds me of my favorite professor! Check him out at http://www.nctp.com he told us all to be Eagles! Have you read "Even Eagles Need a Push"? Some need a shove even! Ha!
I'm creating my new blog on blogspot right now. Let everyone know when it is ready!
WELL SAID. I HAVE WORKED FOR TWO FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES AND YOU HAVE HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD. WITH LEADERSHIP LIKE THIS, AOL WILL FAIL FINANCIALLY.
Mrs. L
After I found out that the great AOL merger that made AOL one of the largest corporations in the world benefitted the company they merged with and almost bankrupted AOL, I lost most of my faith in the leadership of this company. The CEO who forged that deal for AOL was forced to resign and now I see the next generation of management talent is no better. This reeks of a coporation that is too big to understand ANYTHING from a normal person's perspective and has no intention of letting little people like its customers dictate anything about the way they operate.
Sam
Thanks for keeping us pissed off, Mrs. L.
Every time I think that it wasn't worth the sacrifice you write something that makes me realize that it was.
Now what else can we do to make their live's miserable?
Maryanne
"Unfortunately most companies confuse leadership with finance. But when a company takes care of its people, the money takes care of itself." Hear, hear. This is so true, but no one gets it until all that's left in the building are two paperclips and a broken coffee mug.
As always, you are amazing, Mrs L.
Anna
Have you hugged your fuzzy lizard today?
If you have, I don't want to know.
Here's the link directly to my article, so you don't have to put up with the rest of the dross :-)
http://redsneakz.blogspot.com/2005/12/my-letter-to-bill-schreiner-vp-of-aol.html
You're a wicked, wicked lady. Can I be like you when I grow up? :-)
Since AOL decided in the past year that Community (which used to be touted as the Heart of AOL) was less important than advertising dollars, the actual members of the service have suffered. When is it going to stop? When there are no members and all are using free AIM accounts?
An ex-AOL Community Leader who programmed forum welcome screens, created content in the form of weekly columns, helped thousands of other members with problems the AOL techs were clueless about... and more, I remain...
OK, where are you.....It's been 4 almost 5 days. Have you been in the eggnog again? I miss you and your biting wit. Anne
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