Disagree? Pack Your Bag
Just a couple of weeks ago, Bertelsmann AG announced that its Chairman and CEO, Dr. Thomas Middelhoff, would leave the company. The press release was silent as to what led up to this departure, but it's not hard to imagine why this departure occurred.
In this day and age, when corporate performance is increasingly coming under scrutiny by Boards, previously entrenched CEOs may be looking at a renewed accountability for their actions. It is highly likely that we will see more of these abrupt departures as Boards take a more proactive role in reviewing performance of their management groups. Major change usually starts at the top, with a new CEO assembling his or her own management team.
Middelhoff made substantial bets in digital technology, preparing Bertelsmann for a new age. Maybe he went too fast. Maybe the executive board got cold feet. Maybe he was ahead of his time. Look what has happened with Bob Pittman, former COO of AOL Time Warner. He's gone as well.
There has been and always will be disagreements between reasonable people. Disagreements, when constructively managed, can bring out new ideas. The spirit of the debate will normally result in a better answer. When debate is not handled effectively, however, the organization bogs down in a swamp of indecision. It is important, at this time, to remove one party so the company can progress.
A leader's responsibility is to be able to identify and recognize when the disagreement in an organization is counterproductive.
Just consider the old cliché of an apple. When you have a storage bin of fruit, a rotten apple in that basket starts out rotten only by itself. But, soon surrounding fruit begins to rot as well, simply because of its proximity to the first apple. Ultimately, the entire basket becomes rotten and we need to throw away the fruit and start over. Like a basket of fruit, organizations have a similar composition. One employee can begin the decaying process and this condition weakens the entire organization; before this gets out of hand, the leader needs to decide to make a change.
Often these are painful decisions, but we all know we will be better off making the decision and moving on. All change creates loss (even when we need it and want it) and all loss needs to be mourned. We leaders need to be sensitive to this and accommodate the mourning period of all those affected. Until we do that, we will not be able to successfully move ahead.
Now ask yourself... Am I a Leader?
Knowing When To Fold Them
As professionals, we all have experienced circumstances in our professional careers when we knew, deep down, we had to move on. Whether it slowly came upon us or we woke up in the middle of the night, sat straight up, and made the critical decision, we knew it was time to move on—to fold our cards.
Perhaps we disagreed with the management. Maybe we were no longer challenged and were stagnating. It might be because we were being asked to do something that crossed our ethical lines. This last point, crossing ethical lines, is obviously timely. “A little integrity is better than any career,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay“Behavior,” written in 1860. I believe we need to update this today to “An enormous integrity is better than any little career.”
No matter the reason, we knew it was time to move on. It's our gut that lets us know, never failing to be accurate in its signals. Once the gut gives the nod, we should prepare for the transition—the opportunity to go on to a new experience and continued growth, both in a professional and personal capacity. Whether the new opportunity is another job, a move to another industry, or some time off, we need not panic. Of course, when you look around and view the economic environment and the market as some type of an indicator, it might be hard not to panic.
I'm reminded of the stock market declining in the1972-74 period from 1018 to 608 (a decline of 40%) and I compare this with where we are today—from its high on September 6, 2000 of 11,500+ to its current level of around 8700 (a decline of 24%). Then, I ask myself, are we really in that bad of shape? Everyone I speak with is so distressed about the market's collapse. This too shall pass. Now is the time to prepare for your future. Worry about the activities that you can control, not events that you can't, the stock market being one of them.
Decide if your situation is right or if you need to move onto something different. Look to building for the future.
