from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,
On Wednesday, during his news conference to explain the firing of general manager Peter Chiarelli, Jacobs positioned the bar as high as it gets.
“I said that for us not to make the playoffs would have been a failure,” Jacobs said, referring to his January declaration. “So here we are, out. I want to clarify my comment about the playoffs. The expectation is for us not only to get into the playoffs, but to play and compete for the Stanley Cup, not just to get in.”
In some ways, Jacobs could say nothing else. These are the big words of every executive in his position. The Cup is a yearly pursuit, and rightfully so. If any organization targets lesser goals, it is doing its customers and business partners a disservice.
The tone of Jacobs’s words, however, did something besides defining the organizational standard. By identifying his target with such defiance and emotion, Jacobs declared that anything short of their goal would be judged swiftly and critically. Chiarelli paid for this shortcoming with his job.
Jacobs and team president Cam Neely have chosen this leadership style. They demand results. When results are not met, they make their displeasure known and hold employees accountable. Jacobs and Neely showed on Wednesday that they are in charge. The people below them on the masthead are expected to fall in line.
It is a hard and joyless management approach. It is also a thing of the past.
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