My CEO Life

Often when you join a new business in a senior role, you will have people reporting to you that have been there a while.  I recently (OK a little while ago but i have been busy) received the following email and i thought i might have a crack at answering it …

I spent a couple of years asking them to leave so I could move my own team into place.  Most crawled away quietly, but one filed an EEOC age discrimination complaint against me.  Since all my top managers depend on me for their incomes they agreed to sign false affidavits, so the problem went away, I think.  However, it did take an inordinate amount of my time and that of some of my staff to gather defense records together and redact whatever didn’t look good. My question would be, how to fire all the old guys without opening myself up to this irritation again?

Firstly i think that this is not the best way to approach the problem.  You should not be manufacturing evidence to cover your arse!

First and foremost, the shareholders are going to measure you on what you do with the business moving forward not necessarily how well you handle the departure of the old guard.  Unless the old guard is now loyal to you and is adding value, they must go.  Make short work of it.

I see legal costs as sometimes being the cost of removing someone from the business.  We have been sued by a number of people and we always settle.  Usually it is not for too much and most people don’t even sue.  It is just a cost of business.

Therefore the simple answer to the question is dont get stuck in the past - fire them and move on.  Lawyers and HR can handle the clean up if needed.

I was reading a management magazine the other day in which they talked about the top 10 worries that a Chief Executive Officer faces in their role.

Here is the list

1. Being stretched and expected to deal with a wide range of business issues
2. Dependence on technology and the reliability of technology in their business
3. Undestanding how customers behave and what drives buying decisions
4. How to raise work levels while keeping in mind people who have a great perspective and want to balance their lives
5. Attracting the right talent to improve business outcomes
6. How to stop losing great people
7. Protecting or enhancing brand reputation
8. Being able to adapt to change and respond strategically
9. Not having enough people to rely upon
10. Containing costs

What is interesting reading this list is that most of these are (from my perspective) actually exciting and challenges rather than concerns. If i was to look at my business, i would rate #5 - attracting great people - as the most pressing issue. Actually it is not attracting it is just finding them!!!