As much as we wish it weren't so, the heads of big banks like JPMorgan get paid the big bucks for a reason — and the latest missive from Jamie Dimon, the institution's CEO and chair, is a perfect exemplar.Clocking in at a whopping 57 pages without footnotes, Dimon's annual investor letter pulled no punches when pillorying everyone's least favorite part of work."Kill meetings," the JPMorgan chair wrote. "But when they do happen, they have to start on time and end on time — and someone's got to lead them."So chagrined was Dimon at mismanaged meetings that he not only dedicated an entire paragraph to how much he hates them in a sub-section about how companies must "kill bureaucracy all the time and relentlessly," but also mentioned them several other times in the lengthy letter."There should also be a purpose to every meeting and always a follow-up list," the CEO advised. "Sometimes we think we’re just being nice by inviting people to a meeting who don’t have to be there."In what was perhaps a reference to the "this meeting could have been an email" meme, Dimon insisted that "if one is required," everyone involved should "make it count."Far from a luddite, the banker has long been skeptical of the tech sector. Those sentiments were on full display in this year's letter when he trashed people who can't seem to stay off their phones when they're supposed to be paying attention."I see people in meetings all the time who are getting notifications and personal texts or who are reading emails," Dimon wrote. "This has to stop. It’s disrespectful. It wastes time."During an aside towards the end of the note, the CEO also provided, apropos to almost nothing, a tip to "synergy"-happy managers."Avoid management pablum," Dimon said. "It’s a pet peeve of mine. Talk like you speak — get rid of the jargon."Regardless of how we personally feel about big banks and their relationship to politics and society, this guy is one of the most influential people in the finance world. Hopefully, the type of people who read Dimon's investor letters religiously will heed his advice.Share This Article