Reflection 5 of 52: Is there a better way to fire top talent?
February 03, 2014
Rarely does a week go by that we do not see a
senior political or corporate executive get tossed under the bus. The language
used by the tossers takes on a familiar tone of blame and shame.
Quite often the person resigns to protect the
leader:
“Had I obviously
been consulted... I would not have agreed, and it is obviously for those reasons
that I accepted his resignation.”
Others try to become the victim:
“I
am heartbroken that someone I permitted to be in that circle of trust in the
last four years has broken that trust."
Then,
they quickly switch to “doing the right thing”:
“I
think when you make a mistake, when somebody in your organization makes a
mistake, the right thing to do is to own up to it, and to make it right. That’s why I apologize, because we have to make that right.”
The
recent Chris Christie situation takes the concept of “the best defense is a
great offense” to the extreme. The New Jersey Governor held a two-hour news
conference to proclaim his innocence when his Chief of Staff was allegedly
caught in a political dirty tricks type scandal. He said “she lied to me” and
he was “embarrassed and humiliated.”
The accountability and leadership issues are obvious. Believability
from the general public is typically quite low. Aside from the usual impacts to
the communities they serve, I think about how the words and actions impact the
remaining staff. Internal damage control does not seem to get on the radar
until well after the fact.
Think
about AOL CEO Tim Armstrong firing a senior staff member during a conference
call with 1,000 employees (Click here to read more). He did apologize and explain later
but do you think those employees feel immune to similar dismissals?
In heated situations, somebody inevitably takes the fall. I
have known a number of CEO’s and VP’s in this camp. Talk to the people left
behind a month or two later and you know there is little, if any, loyalty to
the organization. Even if they were not crazy about the person who was toasted,
they have that underlying sense of uncertainty for a long time. Losing a boss
shakes up most people. If the person in a position of power can get the axe,
anybody is up for the chopping.
Without a doubt, there is no way to sweeten bad news. However,
there are ways to acknowledge those who remain and continue to work hard
through the transition. Treating people with respect is paramount. I dealt with
many senior level firings in my consulting days and aside from fighting for
dignified departures of the leader; we worked hard to focus on the people left
behind.
Where is the CCO these days? Compassion, Conviction and Optimism
is the model template for delivering bad news.
(Compassion) Without question, we sincerely apologize to
everyone impacted by this situation...
(Conviction) I am devastated this has happened on my
watch and take ultimate responsibility. I will deal with any wrongdoing
appropriately and swiftly.
(Optimism) I know this is not indicative of how the
majority of our team thinks or operates and we will do everything in our power
to restore public/customer confidence in our organization.
Being straight up about a screw up is fine as long as the entire
team is not tarnished. Strong leadership is about taking ownership and starting
the "rebuild" right away. If someone on your watch messed up chances are they
were following your lead. Put on your big boy/girl shoes and take the heat.
Have you ever seen a firing communicated well?
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