Pros
You will have many friendly coworkers. Takes an average of 60/90 days to realize what you’ve gotten yourself into. Eventually aLL become aware of the rampant dysfunction, some choose to play along while others suffer in silence. I will add here that my comments below do not reflect on the team anywhere outside of owners, board members and leadership. I hesitated to speak up here as I don’t wish them any negativity. However, I believe not exposing the truth would be a greater disservice to many people I care for.
Cons
The CEO is a fraud and a sociopath who very likely believes his own lies. It is astonishing that this man holds the position he does. No one is allowed to question him, and as a result, the emperor has no clothes. I wish it were simply that they are bad operators, but sadly, this is textbook toxic leadership in action. Don't be fooled by the propaganda machine—the Christianity talk and the “family” atmosphere are 100% bogus. They hire many people (myself included) who are in weak positions in their careers and lives. They claim benevolent reasons for this, but the truth is that it is a control mechanism for the CEO to keep his house of cards standing. When you're vulnerable, you don't dare speak up, you don't question horrific business practices, and you leave quietly when they decide to eliminate you. (Except me, apparently.) I have personally confirmed this about myself and witnessed it with third parties: they will use your weaknesses against you—behind closed doors, of course—to discredit you. I personally witnessed the following in person: - The CEO directing employees not to disclose product failures to ownership or clients. - The CEO and VPs actively trying to evade customers with legitimate product issues; instead of taking responsibility, they attempt to lie their way through. - The CEO lying—both on social media and in person to the team—about where and how their products are made. - The CEO lying in team meetings about his credentials, claiming he is so in demand that he could walk into many related industry companies tomorrow and immediately become their CEO. His goal was to convince the sales team to accept below-average compensation at Tamlyn by staying “for the love,” just like he does with the “Tamlyn family.” He told the team they should all feel the same way. Other major issues include: - Complete and total business dysfunction in every corner of the organization. Most planning is pencil-whipped, there is no real go-to-market (GTM) strategy, and there is little to no written policy or procedure. - Clear, systematic abuse of employees: people are regularly scapegoated to explain constant failures instead of leadership addressing the actual root causes (which are entirely at the top). Last but not least: During a quarterly company meeting, I was solicited by the owners to meet them for dinner. I met with two of the three brothers who are majority owners. The conversation was enjoyable, topical, and friendly—or so I thought. The very next day, the CEO called a meeting that included me and five of his long-time inner circle of VPs and Directors. It was the only time I ever met directly with the CEO during my employment. It quickly became clear the meeting was called to intimidate me. He explicitly stated that the owners were not to be included in any business conversations. He described them as follows: - Brother 1 (the one at dinner): a long-time retired CEO who doesn’t want to be bothered. - Brother 2 (also at dinner, and in my view the only internal hope for turning around this culture): a lazy, low-IQ troublemaker who doesn’t understand our business and nothing more. - Brother 3 (the chairman): newly joined the family business, doesn’t understand it, was just some “real estate broker,” has no grasp of sales, and lacks people skills. He then stated that anyone in the room who did not adhere to his commands would be terminated “fast and without warning.” He followed up with a recap email the next morning. Less than two days later, Owner #3 texted me to set up a golf date, saying he had missed the dinner and wanted to get to know me. After a few days of reflection, I decided to be open with Owner #3 about what had transpired. We agreed it was best not to engage me further; he would work to repair the dysfunction before including me in any discussions. He also assured me there would be no retribution. He never spoke to me again while I was employed, beyond basic greetings. For the next year+, I was outcast from the team, purposefully unsupported, and treated like an enemy of the state. I suppose they hoped I would quit. When I didn’t, they fired me.