Has Jamie Bedard Left Aberdeen?
Over the past week, I've gathered from multiple internal sources that Jamie Bedard is leaving Aberdeen (or has already left). But his name is still on the website as CEO. If anyone has any information on the specifics, please post a comment. For those who do not know Jamie (or James, as he sometimes goes by), he is a polarizing figure to say the least. On the one hand, we all should give him credit for transforming Aberdeen's business model from a pay-to-play advisory and whitepaper shop to an invaluable source of objective research and benchmarks in the procurement and supply chain world (while it might not be Hackett quality, I still believe Aberdeen produces invaluable quantitative material). I can also vouch for his ability to sell not only customers, but would-be employees and partners as well. However, on the other hand, Jamie's approach led to the departure of dozens of the best analysts in the business -- and burned more bridges than those that Sherman torched during his famous march across the American South.
- Jason Busch
- Jason Busch
I find it truly amazing that this guy ever made it to the ranks of a first line manager, let alone a CEO. Jamie tries to act tough but he's not tough....he's just mean. He seems to get off on generating fear; like a true bully, it somehow makes him feel superior even though his ego is about as thick as an eggshell. Anyone who invests in this creep deserves to lose their money. Aberdeen was an accident. No one in their right mind would work for Jamie long enough to make anything he touched successful.
http://www.amazon.com/Sociopath-Next-Door-Martha-S...
From Publishers Weekly
[Dr.] Stout says that as many as 4% of the population are conscienceless sociopaths who have no empathy or affectionate feelings for humans or animals. As Stout (The Myth of Sanity) explains, a sociopath is defined as someone who displays at least three of seven distinguishing characteristics, such as deceitfulness, impulsivity and a lack of remorse. Such people often have a superficial charm, which they exercise ruthlessly in order to get what they want. Stout argues that the development of sociopathy is due half to genetics and half to nongenetic influences that have not been clearly identified. The author offers three examples of such people, including Skip, the handsome, brilliant, superrich boy who enjoyed stabbing bullfrogs near his family's summer home, and Doreen, who lied about her credentials to get work at a psychiatric institute, manipulated her colleagues and, most cruelly, a patient. Dramatic as these tales are, they are composites, and while Stout is a good writer and her exploration of sociopaths can be arresting, this book occasionally appeals to readers' paranoia, as the book's title and its guidelines for dealing with sociopaths indicate.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From AudioFile
An outstanding audio production that plays out like a public television documentary, this timely piece by a psychotherapist uses colorful case histories to illustrate the major categories of people who have serious defects in their consciences. Some predatory, some covetous, others simply manipulative, they have no regard for the feelings or well-being of others and no internal brakes when it comes to acting out their largely self-serving antisocial agendas. Shelly Frasier is a wry and serious interpreter of this material, which is so fascinating in her hands and so seamlessly organized that it's nearly impossible to get away from it once you start listening. T.W. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Knowing that his reputation is catching up with him, Jamie will tell your Board or employees that there is "some negative press out there" as a result of his having to let go of the "dead wood." Don't you believe it! A number of us left of our own accord when we saw what a contemptuous monster he was. That, combined with his total lack of managerial ability and industry knowledge, made it obvious that there was no way that TrueAdvantage was going to succeed!
But he's a terrible manager. He unabashedly used people to achieve his goals. Like computers or shovels, Aberdeen employees were merely tools that he used and thew away, that he tried to control, to manipulate, to dominate, to bend to his will. He hired (and more often than not fired), tore people away from their roots, undercut the ground they stood on, yelled, berated, bullied, criticized, dominated, and did so cruelly, without thought, did 'what's best for the business' and in so doing, manufactured enemies faster than he manufactured profit.
It's clear that he wasn't liked by his crew, that he created enemies from which he will never escape. You can't ignore the decimation of Aberdeen's talent roster, and the duplicity with which Jamie regarded the exodus. He is a master of spin, of lies, of deception. He will always be a salesman. Nothing more.