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US Green Building Council

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Great organization driven off a cliff by CEO - Associate US Green Building Council Employee Review

1.0
17 July 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The staff -- smart, dedicated, productive. The mission -- green buildings in a generation is more than wishful thinking, it can be a reality The office -- beautiful, sleek, modern

Cons

The CEO. He micro-manages every aspect of the organization, no exceptions. Then he has the audacity to complain at staff meetings about everyone coming to him for approvals for every step of every project they are working on. He has to be the smartest person in the room -- all the time, every situation. He will reassign someone to a different role or marginalize them if he feels their expertise or knowledge is a threat to his authority. He requires staff to recite and memorize quotes from Steve Jobs and Peter Drucker (no, this is not an exaggeration in the slightest). He has assigned "homework" for staff to research "company culture" because ours is apparently lacking. He does not have a management team. Instead, he has an inner circle of loyalists who essentially micro-manage by proxy. He seems to trust no one but them, and as a result, they are often put in charge of projects in which they have no experience or knowledge. This requires them to rely on the CEO to make every decision (usually from afar while he is traveling). He had a public meltdown that resulted in him screaming at staff in the middle of the expo floor at our annual conference. He talks about staffs' personal lives during staff meetings -- he told one staff member that his goal for this year was to make sure she got married. He spends millions of dollars on ill conceived projects that are designed to make him look like he is being successful, meanwhile the organization's core mission suffers from a lack of resources. He develops these projects in secret without informing staff until the day of launch. He provides little information about the newly launched project and then gets upset that the staff are not promoting his projects enough. He thinks he can be the CEO, COO, CFO, CTO, and CMO of USGBC all at the same time (while also being the president and CEO of two other organizations). But he has little time for those other roles with his traveling and focus on his special projects. As a result, the operations side of the organization suffers as we lurch from problem to problem, fire drill to fire drill. It is as if there are two organizations, one is the CEO with his inner-circle micro-managing staff and overseeing his grandiose schemes, and the other is everyone else trying our best to remain true to our organization's mission and keep the organization from falling apart.

Explore other reviews about US Green Building Council

5.0
23 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Loved this place. They care about their employees and honestly was the best job I've ever had. Would highly recommend to anyone or is given the opportunity.

Cons

No cons! An amazing place to work.

1.0
18 Feb 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Strong mission and historical industry impact Talented, committed colleagues

Cons

Micromanagement and centralized decision-making Heavy meeting culture that limits productivity

5
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