• Within a week of completing a major geographic relocation for this role, I was threatened with termination before expectations, metrics, or success criteria had been clearly defined. This immediately created instability and undermined trust.
• The organization relied heavily on big promises and long-term assurances that were not supported by concrete plans, written commitments, or operational follow-through.
• I was encouraged to relocate based on these assurances, only to experience shifting expectations, reduced stability, and little accountability afterward.
• Leadership frequently emphasized vision and growth while failing to build the internal systems, staffing, or structure necessary to support that vision.
• Expectations, priorities, and KPIs changed repeatedly, often retroactively, making it difficult to perform well or assess success objectively.
• I was asked to recruit and engage clients into programs that later raised serious ethical concerns for me, particularly around transparency, fund handling, and follow-through. When those concerns were raised internally, they were not meaningfully addressed.
• The CEO regularly spoke about firing employees during town halls, creating a culture of fear rather than accountability.
• On multiple occasions, the CEO entered team-specific Zoom spaces to brag about terminating staff, while making comments that strongly implied others were “on the chopping block.”
• This behavior fostered psychological insecurity and intimidation, especially for employees already carrying excessive workloads.
• Leadership behavior at times crossed ethical and personal boundaries, including an instance where I was asked by the CEO to lie to my children by telling them that I was his boss, rather than acknowledging the actual reporting relationship. Being asked to misrepresent reality to my children for the sake of image or humor was deeply inappropriate and raised serious concerns about leadership judgment.
• Raising concerns about workload, ethics, or clarity felt unsafe and discouraged rather than supported.
• Burnout and turnover appeared normalized instead of treated as indicators of systemic leadership failure.