It’s rare for a CEO’s internal memo to go viral, but that’s what happened when AT&T CEO John Stankey responded to a recent employee engagement survey. Stankey was direct: loyalty is no longer a given.
This kind of clarity, though unsettling, is a step toward redefining the contract between companies and their employees. Stankey also dismissed employee concerns as resistance to change and implied that unhappy workers can leave if they don’t align with the company’s direction. Ironically, this was in response to an engagement survey – a tool to determine how much employees trust leaders and feel emotionally connected to AT&T.
This strategy of ruling through fear is increasingly common among old- school CEOs, but fear comes at a cost. Research consistently shows that fear leads to less creativity and productivity, lower innovation, and sloppy work.
AT&T was my first job after graduating from college. Back then, the company cared for employees and bent over backward to recognize people and make them feel like family. Yes, the executives sat alone in plush quarters in Basking Ridge, NJ, and were disconnected from employees, but the company offered something meaningful in exchange for employee loyalty.
The corporate world has changed, but the fundamentals of leadership have not: people commit to leaders and organizations that value, respect, and inspire them. When loyalty is treated as disposable, the relationship becomes purely transactional – and transactions rarely ignite passion, engagement, or long-term commitment.