Arrowhead anxiety: Turnover off the field causes concern

[Dr. Gigglepants]

Secrecy, intimidation, fear and a watchful eye have become hallmarks of working for the Chiefs, say some current and former employees.

BY KENT BABB THE KANSAS CITY STAR

Todd Haley walked into the public relations office at Chiefs headquarters on a Thursday in early December. Four days before he was fired as the team’s coach, he wanted to talk about what life was like inside this organization. But he didn’t know who else might be listening.

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http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/14...nover-off.html

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This article goes into a lot of detail on the changes that came into effect with the Pioli regime. Sounds like a shitty ass place to work now.

[chiefzilla1501]

I'll start by saying that organizational change is really tough. It makes everyone uneasy, especially one where you're trying to get rid of an old regime. You've got a lot of workers who are stuck on old habits. A lot of the people who were uneasy or "turned over" probably deserved to be, if their work was low quality. So there's some very good stuff coming out of this. It's good that Pioli has that kind of attention to detail. From what I've heard, in the scouting process, he is incredibly thorough (Cassel aside, our personnel has largely improved). And it's good that they're running a results-oriented operation. I'm kind of curious if this is a carbon copy of the Pats organization, or if it's the Pats organization on steroids.

But while the change is in the right direction, it's gone way too far. I've never worked at Goldman, but I've never heard of anyone I know that's worked in an organization shrouded in that much secrecy. The fact that they comb over e-mails and phone records is an enormous invasion of privacy and trust, frankly, I don't know how or why anyone would want to work in that environment. Pioli can deliver that kind of a message harshly and sternly without having to resort to this kind of stuff. That's very small of him. That's a really bad thing when your organization has to spy on you because they don't trust you. If you don't trust them, they won't trust you.

And anybody knows that good organizational design is one that encourages collaboration and talking across functions. It seems that the environment is so toxic that they're not only keeping information from the media, they're also keeping information away from each other. That's really, really bad. What makes this worse is that no qualified employee is going to want to work in KC after reading stuff like this. And you'd have to think there's going to be a long line of fed up employees heading for the door. This sounds like a really, really toxic atmosphere.

So you have to take some of this with a grain of salt. A lot of it is just grumbling over a necessary change to increase accountability and there's some merit to the stuff they're doing. But they've pretty clearly taken it to the wrong extreme. You know, you never want to root for a losing season, but it's stories like this that almost make you want to see the team fail only because you know that's the only way we can force a regime change. Sad.

[Superbowltrashcan]

The problems with a myopic management style such as this, and I know about it since I grew up in a household ran much this way and have had a boss or two that played out the same way, are pretty consistent and always eventually borne out: 1. Leadership focuses so much on details that, while important, don't effect the true end product. They simply effect external impressions of the process from others. 2. Those being managed in this manner will eventually find a counter-leader, mutiny, and having distanced themselves in every possible way from leadership have no problem falling on a sword for the cause.
Translation: pioli is A fascist. Stop giving them money... I stopped 2 days ago... Before I read this and now I feel validated...

[the Talking Can]

pioli is a wet fart

which has been more detrimental to the chiefs:

someone not picking up a gum wrapper that pioli hid under a used condom, or Matt Cassel who Pioli hand picked and gave 60 millions dollars?

accountability is waiting for Pioli...in a dark alley, with a baseball bat...his day is coming

[scho63]

"A runaway nun speaks ill of her convent."

I guess it was better when no one held them accountable and the team had people like Frank Ganz, Gunther, and other shit bum coaches running a team that didn't win jack squat.

Firing people is not a fun thing to do but if they are completing all the work now after firing all these other people, maybe the organization became bloated.

Plus Clark Hunt is a money hungry pr*ck!

[Mojo Jojo]

I think the point posters are missing is that the people fired have Nothing to do with the product on the field. These are business, community relations, pr, stadium operations people...many of them were considered among the best in the NFL...othere teams sent there people to observe and learn from these people to make their teams better.

[okcchief]

No matter how much you love the Arrowhead experience on Sunday DO NOT renew your season tickets. That's the only way Clark Hunt will understand. Vote with your feet.

[KCUnited]

It's not his ego that's the problem, it's his insecurities. Pioli is on his treadmill reading this article and some Lamar era receptionist is going to have hell to pay as a result.

[memyselfI]

So the sociopath Haley was paranoid? Wow, that is news. Likewise, the man in charge during the spy gate years is suspected of spying. Wow, that is news.

Captain Obvious would be impressed.

[donkhater]

Personally, I think this story is a little sensationalized. You had an organization run by one of the nicest, humblest men in sports and while that doesn't mean that a team can't be successful with an owner like that, it does increase the likelihood of employees taking advantage of that affability.

In comes Pioli, who admittedly does seem like a severe micromanager, and the culture shock will be huge. Some people don't like change at all and will bitch and moan. I don't begrudge Pioli at all for showing those people the door. It would take more of his energy trying to convert them. I manage employees. I don't take a my-way-or-the-highway approach, but I do know that the 1-2 employees that are reluctant to adjust to what management wants consume more of my time than all the other people (10) combined.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Phobia

The last regime was secretive and nasty to the media as well... perhaps not to this level but I think they're all that way. When you're throwing millions at coaches, personnel, and facilities you spend millions to protect those investments.

Protect them from what? Are their egos THAT fragile?

[tmax63]

Changing culture from the ground up in an organization is tough. I've worked for Uncle Sugar for 26 years, 12 in uniform, 14 in civilian clothes. In my time in uniform there were times I had to "change the culture". I have had changes in supervisors every year or 3 for the whole time. Accountability and attention to detail are tough to instill in employees who don't have it because it takes alot more work. I've seen areas where "good enough" was fine for years then all of sudden wasn't. Usually the people who are most paranoid and upset are the ones who have been just "getting by". They don't choose to understand and adapt to the fact that supervisors can change the standards employees are held to. Resistance to change is almost universal. Pioli was brought in to change the culture of the Chiefs. None of us here know where the Chiefs were or where they are going on that side of the house. Listening to and believing disgruntled employees and media as fact machines is a quick way to get mislead. I doubt they're doing anything illegal to the employees or they would of been busted for it by now. If they are then it will come to an end end quick enough.

[tomahawk kid]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

If Pioli put as much attention to detail into the roster as he does his subordinates, we'd be a pretty decent franchise.

Can't wait until this clown is fired. Eagerly anticipating 2032.

This. A billion times.

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

Yup the wrong person was fired this year Pioli is a joke.

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

When you’re mentally abused, you eventually lose it, too,” one former longtime Chiefs executive said


Right there is why haley played Palko .

[ChiTown]

The leadership in this franchise is completely ****ed up. I can't believe how utterly dysfunctional we continue to be. Our fans deserve so much better than these assholes.