Poor Leadership and Fear-Based Culture - ECommerce Specialist SAS Shoes Employee Review

From the start, it was clear that leadership was disorganized. I stepped into a project that had been stalled for over three years—not because of a lack of effort, but because upper management couldn’t make decisions or articulate what they wanted. Despite the team presenting multiple thoughtful options and solutions, nothing ever seemed to satisfy leadership. To make matters worse, they later questioned why the team was so behind, ignoring their own role in the delays. The workplace culture was tense, with most employees openly expressing fear of upper management’s temper. I was even warned not to use polite expressions like “yes ma’am” because they might upset executives—an odd and uncomfortable dynamic. Furthermore, unrealistic deadlines were frequently imposed without regard for the actual workload or project scope.