As a counterpoint to the earlier post on my opinion of how to do Change Management, this is an unedited extract of an article about Telstra that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 30 May last year.
Mr Winn earlier updated business leaders on Telstra’s five-year transformation program… As well, Mr Winn, who began his career as a linesman in the US, delivered a testosterone-charged description of the new management style at the telco.
“We’re not running a democracy. We don’t manage by consensus,” he said. We’re criticised for it. The fact of the matter is we run an absolute dictatorship,” he said.
A cultural shift was needed at the former government-owned enterprise, along with changes in business processes, he said. “If you can’t get the people to go there and you try once and you try twice … then you just shoot them and get them out of the way.”
I offer this without further comment. Please compare this with the earlier post and tell me which view you think offers the best business result…
Andrew –
Fair comment! I believe that certain behaviours can be bad – or at least unhelpful – but I do agree that the behavior should be judged regardless of gender. Maybe I have highlighted the wrong aspect of this quote in my title…
Keith,
Good item. It’s a pity the title gives Testosterone a bad name and perpetuates the myth about maleness being bad.
Cheers,
Andrew.