Capital One – “Analytics trumps leadership”

Pros

-resources are there to do your best work
-bright co-workers
-beautiful facilities
-company quickly learns from past mistakes and moves on
-conservative financial management increases probability for longer-term success
-analytics (fact-based decisions) reduces tendencies for inefficient meetings & discussions

Cons

-good people management skills are not fully appreciated nor rewarded
-over-reliance on performance management process, comp & ben features to "engage" & motivate associates
-soft skills often rated more highly than actual results
-must be OK with being a mobile worker (no place to call your own)
-performance management process is often used to defend political decisions
-analytics can over-shadow common sense & lessons learned from experience

Advice to Senior Management

-show true value in people-management skills by rating leaders on a regular basis
-encourage "poaching" of associates internally to separate posers from real leaders