However you feel about Elon Musk's takeover and leadership of social media platform Twitter (TWTR), his management style shouldn't take you by surprise.
The loud declarations before backtracking, the employee attrition, the bombastic leadership style have all been part of Musk's modus operandi for awhile.
Just how long Musk has operated this way is coming into focus after Insider published an internal 2018 Tesla (TSLA) worker survey that scrutinized Musk's management style.
The survey's existence was disclosed last week in a lawsuit against Musk over his $56 billion compensation package with Tesla.
Musk's management style has come under renewed scrutiny thanks to his decision to turn his stewardship of Twitter into a reality show for his social media followers.
The survey coming out now hits harder because Musk's approach is on full display in real time on Twitter. So what does it say about the man and his leadership?
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Elon's Tesla Survey Says...
Some Tesla employees were not happy with the head honcho back in 2018.
"Review of employee survey results. Not good on comp, esp from VPs, and not good on leadership, mostly about Elon," Gabrielle Toledano, Tesla's chief people officer at the time, said in an email, according to Insider.
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the professionals, managers, executives and directors said they trusted Elon and management to properly balance employee interests with those of the company.
Again, about two-thirds of the professionals and higher at the company said that Elon and his executive team cared about the company's employees.
Among the directors, 60% said they had access to the resources they needed to effectively perform their jobs.
Some employees complained about Musk and his methods.
"Tesla is hemorrhaging highly talented, ferociously driven people who truly believe in the company's vision and continue to hope for its success," wrote one worker in the survey.
"Elon is a technical leader of the highest order, and yet is widely seen as an unapproachable tyrant who devalues the contributions of the staff, and may fire them on a whim. ..."
Insider also noted that at the same time, 98% of the employees who responded to the survey said they were proud of Tesla's impact on the world.
Elon Musk's Twitter and Tesla
Despite the big changes and tough decisions being made at Twitter, affecting thousands of employees around the globe, Elon Musk seems to be having fun.
He has been tweeting a lot (one of his favorite pastimes even before his acquisition of the company), challenging his detractors with memes and curt remarks.
And regardless of the rank and file's opinion on Musk, Tesla has rewarded him with the $56 billion compensation package. (He's already the richest man in the world.)
Musk in turn has rewarded Tesla shareholders by guiding the company's stock from its $20 level in 2018 to its all-time closing high above $400 in late 2021. While a year later, Tesla's stock has lost more than half its value, it is still trading nine times higher than it was when that survey was taken.
