In an interview, Dan Schulman, now chief executive of Verizon after previously leading PayPal, described the telecoms group as hierarchical and risk averse, with staff more inclined to show their work than surface disagreement. He said the organisation had for years been “willing to be prey,” conceding market share rather than contesting it, and that the push for change came from the top rather than dissent rising up from teams. Schulman said he laid off 13,000 staff in his second month in the role, redirecting savings toward customer-facing investment, and that he addressed staff directly in unscripted all-hands meetings to counter a culture he described as reluctant to challenge leadership or take risks. The account was published by Harvard Business Review on 4 August 2026, as part of its HBR IdeaCast podcast series.
Source: Harvard Business Review, 2026-08-04.