Leadership has created a culture of fear and mistrust
Pros
The AMA’s mission is meaningful, and many employees genuinely care about improving health care. I have worked with talented, dedicated colleagues who want to do excellent work and support one another. Unfortunately, many of those employees have left because of the culture created by senior leadership.
Cons
In my experience, the workplace culture has become increasingly top-down, discouraging and fear-based under the new CEO. The CEO frequently speaks about having an “open door policy” and wanting to hear from employees. However, managers have repeatedly warned employees not to contact him directly because doing so can make a situation worse. That contradiction captures the broader culture: employees are told that leadership welcomes feedback, but many do not feel safe providing it. I have witnessed or learned of interactions in which the CEO yelled at employees or sent responses that were perceived as rude and dismissive. This has made people reluctant to ask questions, challenge decisions or raise legitimate concerns. Major decisions are often announced with little transparency or meaningful employee input. The return-to-office mandate is one example. Employees are required to work in the office three days a week in the name of “collaboration” and “culture,” yet employees were not meaningfully asked what would help them collaborate or what effect the mandate would have on their lives and work. The expectation is that employees accept decisions and handle the consequences, even when the plans are poorly designed or operationally difficult. When concerns are raised, employees may feel blamed if the initiative does not succeed. There is also a widespread perception that employees who strongly disagree with senior leadership risk having their positions “eliminated.” Whether every instance is directly connected cannot always be known, but the pattern has created real fear. Employees often stay quiet because they worry that honest feedback could affect their job security. Even many managers appear afraid to advocate openly for their teams. That leaves employees feeling unsupported and reinforces the belief that decisions cannot be questioned. The AMA has lost many talented and experienced employees. In my view, this is not because they stopped believing in the mission. They stopped believing that leadership valued their expertise, well-being or voices.
