Man, talk about a ‘leader cliff lineup’. That was the name I secretly gave to this one project, or rather, a whole period at my old company. It wasn’t pretty, let me tell you. I figured I’d share what went down, just to get it off my chest and maybe someone else has seen something similar.
How It All Kicked Off
So, there I was, minding my own business, doing my usual stuff. Then, out of the blue, I get roped into this new “high-priority initiative.” You know how it is – big buzzwords, promises of changing the game, all that jazz. Initially, I was kinda hopeful. Thought, “Okay, maybe this will be something good, something to get my teeth into.” Boy, was I wrong.
The project itself was ambitious, I’ll give them that. But it felt like it was built on shaky ground from day one. Like they wanted to build a skyscraper without proper blueprints.
The Never-Ending Parade of “Leaders”
This is where the “leader cliff lineup” really started to make sense. Our first supposed leader, let’s call him Mr. Big Ideas, lasted all of three months. He’d come in, talk a big game, sketch some stuff on a whiteboard that made no sense to us grunts, and then poof – he was reassigned to something “even more critical.” Left us hanging, basically.
Then came Leader Number Two. This one was all about “process.” We spent weeks in meetings, filling out forms, creating charts. Actual work? Not so much. She didn’t last long either. I think the pressure got to her, or maybe she saw the writing on the wall. After her, it became a blur. We had a temporary guy, then someone from another department who was “just overseeing,” then another “permanent” one who lasted barely longer than the coffee he brewed in the morning.
It was a genuine revolving door. Each new face brought new ideas, usually trashing whatever the last person had started. We were constantly shifting gears, redoing work, and trying to look enthusiastic for the new boss. Talk about whiplash. You’d just get used to one way of doing things, and then bam, everything changed. The “cliff” part was because we always felt like we were teetering on the edge of disaster, and the “lineup” was this endless stream of people who were supposed to guide us but mostly just confused us.
Just Trying to Get Something Done
For us on the actual team, the folks meant to be building the thing, it was a nightmare. Morale was in the gutter. You’d work your tail off on something, only for the next leader in the lineup to come along and say, “Nah, we’re not doing that anymore. We’re going this way now.” It was incredibly frustrating. I remember spending a solid month on a particular piece of work, thinking we were finally making progress. New leader walks in, glances at it for five minutes, and decides it’s all wrong. Scrap it. Start over. You just felt like Sisyphus, constantly pushing a rock up a hill only for it to roll back down.
I tried, you know? Tried to keep my team focused, shield them from some of the chaos. I’d go to the meetings, try to get clear instructions, but it was like nailing jelly to a wall. Sometimes I’d speak up, try to explain why the constant changes were hurting us. They’d nod, say “good point,” and then carry on like I hadn’t said a word. It felt like the folks at the top were just playing musical chairs with management roles, completely clueless about the mess it was creating down below.
The Inevitable End
Well, you can probably guess how this story ends. After about a year of this nonsense, with millions probably wasted and nothing concrete to show for it, they pulled the plug. Of course, it wasn’t called a failure. Oh no. It was a “strategic pivot” or some other corporate jargon. They had a big town hall, talked about “learnings” and “moving forward.” We all just sat there, thinking about the wasted hours and the stress.
Some of us got shuffled to other projects. Some just left the company. The “leader cliff lineup” just sort of dissolved, and everyone tried to forget it ever happened.
What I Carried Away from That Mess
Looking back, it was a masterclass in how not to run a project, or a company for that matter. The biggest thing I learned is that leadership isn’t just a title you give someone. It’s about vision, stability, and actually supporting your team, not just throwing directives from an ivory tower and disappearing.
It also taught me to spot the warning signs. That feeling of constant chaos? The revolving door of bosses? Yeah, those are big red flags. I ended up leaving that company not too long after that whole fiasco. Found a place that was a bit more grounded, a bit more sane. And honestly, it was the best move I could have made. Sometimes you just gotta get off the crazy train before it goes completely off the rails.
