Competence Is Optional. Compliance Is Not.
Pros
Access to a handful of genuinely skilled technologists willing to share their expertise made certain stretches of this role worthwhile. If you are fortunate enough to land near one of them, absorb everything you can.
Cons
Where to begin. Leadership here is less a meritocracy than a recruitment campaign. The organization has an aggressive, almost evangelical drive to push individuals, regardless of qualification, into management roles. Declining is treated not as a professional decision, but as a loyalty test you have morally failed. The pipeline and pressure exists to grow the pyramid of leadership, and not to serve the people within it. From the point at which one declines a “leadership” position, you will be treated noticeably worse. It’s just bullying with extra steps. It should surprise no one that the most senior positions are occupied by individuals with a particular advantage over their peers: proximity to the CEO at the dinner table. Whether this reflects a deliberate strategy or simply the natural entropy of an unchecked founder, the effect on organizational credibility is the same. Speaking of the CEO, employees are periodically conscripted into the audience of what can only be described as an in-house personal development brand. Attendance at these sessions is framed as a mandatory opportunity. Though, it is not so much an opportunity as it is mandatory. On the subject of professionalism and communication standards: expectations are applied with remarkable inconsistency across the organization. High standards are selectively enforced, and the disparity is visible enough that it does not go unnoticed by those who actually meet them. Finally, and this warrants documentation, my separation from this company was recorded in a manner that directly contradicts the terms under which I resigned. I fulfilled my notice period in full. The paperwork tells a different story. I would encourage anyone considering this employer to keep meticulous records of every “professional” exchange, beginning on day one. I have additional points of feedforward. However, I’ve concluded this organization has not earned them. Frankly, I doubt they’d even be heard out, land properly, or acted upon.
