"Hurricane Carol" Shaking up Yahoo!
Rumor has it Carol “Hurricane” Bartz is about to treat the Yahoo! staff to the executive shuffle. Several reports state that the newest CEO at the company will this week rejig the executive line up over at Yahoo!.
All Things Digital reports that Bartz is also set to severely roll back a variety of previous reorganizations done by former CEO Jerry Yang and former President Sue Decker. Most reports point to this week, with some going as far as to specify that the reorganization will take place on Wednesday.
In a nice little memo that was leaked (much to the chagrin of Bartz we assume), Carol tells staff to get a good weekend of rest in before Monday, because this week is going to be “a biggie.” She also briefly mentions the company’s decision to ditch the brands that are an embarrassment, which they discussed in a cleverly disguised email entitled 'The Brand Pride List'. Check out the full memo below.
“My week started last Friday down at the AT&T golf tournament where we hosted many of our important U.S. customers and partners. I thought I’d use this week’s note to give you some impressions:
First, I really want to congratulate Joanne Bradford’s team for hosting and running a first-class event. I know many of you in the company have absolutely no idea what happens in our regions or what salespeople do for a living (in fact, my past history has shown me that the way most engineers perceive salespeople is as lightweight, backslapping meeters and greeters). In fact, I’m delighted to report that Yahoo! has an A+ sales team. I watched them in action with customers such as Pepsi–it was clear they had the respect and trust of the customer and represented all of us Yahoos very well. It was very interesting to learn how creative our salespeople are in helping our clients devise interesting and profitable campaigns. I received a lot of compliments about how well-supported these customers and partners felt. Likewise, it was very clear to me that they support Yahoo! in return and very much want us to succeed.
Hey, that doesn’t mean they think we’re perfect! They had several ideas about our products and how we could do better, especially in this tough economic environment. This plays right into our focus on excellence and great products.
Last week I told you we were going to have our first pass at deciding which products embarrass us as a company. Kudos to Allen Olivo and his team for worrying that one of you might leak my email, so instead he called it the “Brand Pride List.” Whatever, the point is still important and we had a great discussion on which products to stop and which to make a lot better. More to follow…
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I realize this is a very U.S.-centric message but that’s because I spent three days with U.S. customers. Just wait until I blow through Europe in April–I’ll be sharing all sorts of European goodies with you! And yes, I am going to Asia as well–we just haven’t settled on the date yet.
My husband is out of town this weekend, so I’m looking forward to watching all the “chick flicks” that he refuses to watch with me. I hope you all have a fun weekend. Get well-rested, because next week’s a biggie. :)
Carol”
Bartz recently threatened to "drop-kick to f***ing Mars” employees who leak to the press, which makes us wonder if she’s managed to figure out who leaked this one. It also makes us wish we could get her in a ring with Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer who’s had some pretty nutty public appearances himself over the years.
Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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bustapr Thats just the wrong person to do the job. Come on, whoever has the nerves to say,"next weeks a BIGGIE"and talk about her husband to a serious company can't stand the job. And it looks like her temper might make yahoo for lower and lower below google pretty soon. My opinion is to let the japanese do it.Reply -
warezme And there you have it. How NOT to represent a large corporation. Where is Donald Trump and his, your fired voice, when you need it?Reply -
davidgbailey That's what happens when you put women in charge. I think she'd make a better house wife raising kids, cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry.Reply -
JMcEntegart @DavidGBailey: Careful, mate! There's more women reading the site than you know. That's a good way to get yourself lynched!Reply -
hillarymakesmecry I don't think I could work for a company with a CEO like Carol. Her unproffessionalism reflects badly on all of her employees, and I'd be ashamed if I were supposed to look up to someone like this. I don't want my CEO to be my friend, I want them to be a respectable leader.Reply
People leak her memos to the press because the memos are a joke. Whoever is leaking the memos knows the memos speak for themselves as to her qualifications.