If you are confident that you could get another job at which you would be happy quickly and without much of a problem, then go ahead and do whatever you think is right.
Otherwise, I would keep my mouth shut and just do my job and wait for the dust to settle.
One alternative is that you could send the target of this mutiny and anonymous email warning him of what is to happen and include a code so that if things go wrong you could go to him and prove the warning was sent by you.
However, there is always the chance that if you warn him and he decides to make a fuss about it, things could still work out badly for you as you could lose your job in the resulting karfuffle.
So, maybe it would be best for you to just keep your head down and your mouth shut. That is what experience has taught me would be best.
A guy at work was telling me last week that, a short while ago, he heard some rumor, through the grapevine no doubt, and went to see the CEO simply to ask if it was true. The CEO misinterpreted the simple query and, as the guy said, “ripped me a new one for being interested in the rumor at all.”
It’s just rumors at this point. Unless the coworker confides in him, he doesn’t know anything. If I were the OP, I’d avoid being alone with said coworker so there’s little chance of gaining that sort of first-hand knowledge.
I’m not familiar with with the exact makeup of the OP’s chain of command, so my suggestions were only that. But the mature thing to do for any in high level management is to take a pre-emptive approach to anything that can disrupt your business. If he can’t call a meeting, ask his boss to do it. Ousting the CEO is a company wide issue, not something that a couple of suits as part of some backroom clique should decide on
SOMEBODY should do this. If not the OP, then somebody with the authority to do so
Nobody’s speaking for anyone. The affected employees would be invited to present their case. Much like an HR hearing, though these people are probably beyond HR’s control, at a certain point a neutral party must be brought in to mediate a discussion. You tell me how that would hurt? Or should everyone just go back to their offices, shut the door, and fume in silence?
Ideally, the CEO’s performance is the business of everyone in the company. The Board and high level management would be there because they’re the only ones that can do something about it.
Nobody’s asking the higher ups to do anything. Only the guy with the issue and the CEO really needs to say their side. A vote can be called after that in private to decide the fate of the CEO
He wouldn’t be doing that presumably, but somebody should
They can abstain, sure, but as management, they should share some responsibility in the direction the company is going to take. That’s why they get the big bucks. Or you’d rather they just get paid to do nothing? If someone was going to happen to my boss or the head of my company, I would certainly welcome the opportunity to weigh in on it. I don’t have to do it if I don’t want to, but to be offered that chance should be a given
Ideally, the union would be doing that as part of their duties as a theoretical member of the Board
Or they can just ignore it like you’re suggesting. Yeah, that’s a great plan. Ignore your problems and they’ll just go away!
Are you even vaguely familiar with what happens in upper level management of a company? Of course somebody would set up a meeting to discuss, that’s how things are done. Decisions are not made in the clubhouse of a golfing range over the weekend, as much as you may think otherwise
Only someone who IS 12 thinks this cannot work, or is not a good plan. Past a certain point, corporate bureaucrats seems to think everything is supposed to work like it does back in high school. Get in with the popular kids, stab people in the back, make secret deals and have your own handshake. I’m trying to get them to act like mature adults, you’re trying to make them go back in the clubhouse and shut the door
I feel like you don’t really understand how a corporation works or why.
Firstly, the CEO cannot do his job effectively, which is running the company on behalf of the board of directors (who represent the owners and shareholders), if every middle manager with an ax to grind or ambition for a higher job can just go to the board and undermine the CEOs position.
Secondly, most companies have a chain of command and a process for airing and discussing grievances. IOW, typically you talk to your manager and if it’s a big enough issue you raise it with HR. Short of the CEO stealing from the company, I’m not really sure why some low level Director has any business complaining about the CEO to the board or why the board should take him seriously.
Third, firing the CEO of a company is not a trivial thing. And the larger the company, the more trivial it is not.
I don’t know what the OP is worried about anyway. Beyond telling his colleague that he is doing something stupid, his best bet is to just continue doing his job and mind his business. What kind of absurd work environment does he work in where one Director acting like an idiot will “take them all down with him”?
Lets be clear, none of us know the OP’s exact chain of command. This director could be pretty high up there or some low level manager. I don’t think its smart to let every low level employee cause trouble with management, but assuming a certain rank that’s short of a full Board member, I think management has an obligation to address criticisms when presented. I’ve tried to make it clear that my replies are mostly with ideal situations, and I’m not assuming this director is some grunt entry level management position.
Assuming the director is not some low level manager, do you think that in most corporations, management has a fair and open process of evaluating the CEO to assess his continued employment? Most of these big companies have Board members that sit on multiple corporations’ upper management. That’s why fired CEO’s in one company, disgraced as he may be, are often guaranteed golden parachutes and hired as another company’s manager instead of drummed out of the business for being incompetent. I’m saying that I have little faith in how corporate America is run, that the process needs to be more fair, more transparent, and allow more voices than the handful that seems to hold rotating membership
Two things. One, we’re a small company. Two, I’m the de facto operational leader of the company, and the Director in question may be contemplating this move because of a very public and very unpleasant encounter I had with the CEO a few weeks ago, in which the CEO publicly dressed me down in a very unprofessional manner for something very petty that happened almost a year ago. This company was on the brink of failure and I was able to save it. The general perception is that the CEO is not a good leader, and lashing out at me may have been the last straw.
Indeed. And while I am not responsible for his actions it would be difficult to prove I didn’t have foreknowledge of events should he follow through with his plan.
Yeah so…You kind of didn’t give us the whole story there.
I still think head-down is your best bet but I’d also put lots more energy into your resume polishing. No matter what happens you are pretty much in an untenable position.
I vote for staying the heck out of it. But if you find that impossible to do, you should first talk to the Director about the rumor you heard. If you confirm that the rumor is true, tell him your concerns about how his actions might impact you.
Ratting him out to your boss sounds like an surefire way to make this mess even messier. Leaking this to the executives is even crazier, especially if you’re not even an ally of the CEO.
If you heard a rumour about it, then it’s pretty much a guarantee that Other Director doesn’t know what he’s doing and won’t succeed. The way to get rid of a bad CEO is to provide cogent, relevant, documented and quantified information to the Board members. Preferably provide it by mail to their homes anonymously, and without letting them know that you are copying the other Board members. Make sure it is information which shows how his behavior (or lack thereof) is likely to affect the stock price. Board Members are not tasked with tracking employee morale.
You want them to come to the next Board meeting each with an agenda they think is their own. You also want to stay out of the fray re: who the next CEO will be. Don’t make any reference to that of any kind in your missive.
He’s completely missed the fact that “continuity” and “civil passage of power” are very important elements to maintaining stock price during a turnover. The old CEO will likely be given a role on the Board or within the company for at least six months during the transition. He may not have much power, but it’s extremely unlikely that security will just walk him out with a box in his hands. He’ll have time and energy to make life miserable for whoever is known to have worked against him.
I agree with the “dust off your resume” advice. This company can’t last if this behavior is allowed to continue. I’d also say develop and practice a Brutus speech. You know, a way to acknowledge his faults without seeming to be against him.
"Mr. Doe is an excellent salesman, and with a little more support could be very good at tracking the business model and profitability of the company. His charm and poise have been quite helpful in customer calls, and he’s always willing to use his title to help us get the meeting or call-back we need.
I’d just like to see him put a bit more emphasis on ethics and regulatory compliance, as I fear a bad audit could harm our bottom line."
