- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady on Mark Zuckerberg and layoffs at Meta.
- The big story: Musk v Altman.
- The markets: All-time highs in sight.
- Analyst notes from Bank of America, JP Morgan, and Convera.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the value of compassion in leadership. Meta began laying off 5% of its workforce yesterday, some 3,600 people. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the goal is to “move out low-performers faster.” Salesforce is also laying off staff, as are other companies. Most are citing AI or restructuring as the rationale for cutting jobs.
Were some of Meta’s fired employees not doing well? No doubt. But I’ve paid enough attention to Zuckerberg over the years to suspect that he may be responsible for some of that performance. As I have noted in the past, Zuckerberg is a leader who doesn’t always appreciate what some of his colleagues do. He has complained about productivity before. In a Q&A with employees in 2023, Meta’s “year of efficiency,” he also described the company he built as a dystopia of “managers managing managers, managing managers, managing managers, managing the people who are doing the work,” as reported in Command Line. Some excellence is measured by lines of code; other times, it’s a result of managers who build winning teams and enable others to succeed.
To be fair, I’ve never had a chance to ask Zuckerberg about his leadership philosophy. The man who says companies need more masculine energy literally speed-walked away when I first met him in Davos back in 2009, saying “let’s go” to his sister when I asked if they were having a good time. Meta didn’t respond when I reached out for comment on this. I’d love a thoughtful discussion but Zuckerberg may prefer other media settings these days.
As for Meta’s latest round of job cuts: Like those anodyne press releases in which a CEO says they’re stepping down to pursue other projects, there’s something to be said for letting people leave with their dignity intact rather than branding them as subpar performers. Companies that celebrate and support former employees tend to create more fans than foes.
Look at McKinsey. For all its challenges, I’ve yet to meet an ex-McKinseyite—including me—who doesn’t feel some warmth towards the brand. I have, however, heard complaints from several current and former staffers about the experience of working at Meta. That’s subjective, of course, but I suspect Zuckerberg’s harsh assessment of his colleagues is the same. True, sometimes a worker isn't in the right job or needs a new challenge or has the wrong skill set as the business moves in a new direction. But seasoned CEOs know that how you treat and speak about people on their way out matters. They may come back as a customer or competitor. Someday, you may even want to hire them back. Karma is a powerful weapon in the war for talent. More news below.
More news below.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady, diane.brady@fortune.com, LinkedIn.
