JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon bans very common behavior during work meetings
The CEO of JP Morgan is banning staff from participating in a very common behavior during work meetings.
Jamie Dimon, who has run America's biggest bank since 2006, has ordered staff to stop reading texts and emails in meetings, claiming it's 'disrespectful' and 'wastes time.'
Dimon, 69, said he's had enough of staff scrolling through messages when they should be paying attention.
In his annual letter to shareholders, the banking chief demanded it 'has to stop.'
'I see people in meetings all the time who are getting notifications and personal texts or who are reading emails. This has to stop. It's disrespectful. It wastes time,' he wrote.
He insisted that he always gives discussions '100 per cent of my attention' and expects others to do the same.
The CEO didn't stop there in his annual letter.
He also took aim at corporate speak that plagues modern offices.
'Avoid management pablum [pap],' he told staff. 'It's a pet peeve of mine. Talk like you speak - get rid of the jargon'.
Jamie Dimon, who has run America's biggest bank since 2006, has ordered staff to stop reading texts and emails in meetings, claiming it's 'disrespectful' and 'wastes time'
Jamie Dimon, who has run America's biggest bank since 2006, has ordered staff to stop reading texts and emails in meetings, claiming it's 'disrespectful' and 'wastes time'
He also advised his employees to 'work smarter, not longer'.
'Don't read the same email two or three times. Most can be addressed immediately,' he instructed.
The Wall Street veteran, dubbed the '$25 billion man' because that's supposedly how much JP Morgan's stock would drop if he left.
He went on to call out 'class warfare' and 'identity politics,' claiming these policies 'hurt the very people they were meant to protect most'.
'We engage too frequently in class warfare and excessively in identity politics, ie using race, sex or creed inappropriately … Many of these policies hurt the very people they were meant to protect most,' he wrote.
'Unfortunately, more and more people are being disrespectful, condescending and unwilling to listen to one another,' he continued.
'While adjustments are needed, it is quite predictable that the pendulum will swing too far in the other direction. When all is said and done, let's hope we can all treat each other with a little more respect.'
In his annual letter, he also addressed the trade wars started by President Donald Trump risk driving up prices at American stores, undermining global alliances, and slowing economic growth.
The warning comes as global stock markets - including pre-market trading in the US - continue the carnage that shed trillions of dollars last week.
JPMorgan raised its likelihood of a recession from 40 percent to 60 percent.
'Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,' Dimon wrote.
'If the Western world's military and economic alliances were to fragment, America itself would inevitably weaken over time.'
The warning comes after Reuters reports that Dimon and other bank CEOs met with White House Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The meeting took place on Thursday, but the meeting and days of global market downturns don't seem to have changed the Trump administration's minds.
Dimon has also took a strong stance against work from home policies.
In March, he again passionately defended his ironclad stance on remote work, this time in front curious college students.
While speaking at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, he said he's 'had enough' of the now-common workplace practice and that it simply 'doesn't work' in his business.
Dimon, whose heated criticisms of remote work have made him a champion of the return-to-office culture shift, claimed the only group of people disgruntled with the move are 'the people in the middle' - like corporate office workers.
