4 ms·

If I ever had to layoff a double digit number of employees, I would also layoff myself. I couldn’t in good conscience externalize the impact of my bad decisions

If I ever had to layoff a double digit number of employees, I would also layoff myself. I couldn’t in good conscience externalize the impact of my bad decisions on employees whilst leaving myself unaffected.

mhluongo 4y ago
Huh, likely leaving the rest of the co in a lurch. Nice.
- atdrummond 4y ago
  There are multiple ways to transition out as CEO other than just saying “peace, I’m out”
winter_squirrel 4y ago
As a counterpart, if you have to layoff that many people, is it really the right time to also put the stress of a leadership shift into the company? I can see the argument for this triggering an eventual change, but having _both_ the chock of a CEO change _and_ 28% of the company being layed off at the same time seems unwise.
- satvikpendem 4y ago
  Indeed, laying off the CEO too screws over the entire company, not just the portion of people who got laid off.
  - itronitron 4y ago
    Most CEOs are quite disposable.
    - KyeRussell 4y ago
      That’s a bold claim, and is more than anything a reflection of the sorts of orgs you tend to interact with.
      - atdrummond 4y ago
        Most executives fail when achieving a new C-level rank: https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-executives-fail-2015-3?international=true&r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-executives-fail-2015...
  - walls 4y ago
    The only people who even notice a change of CEO are the other execs.
    - satvikpendem 4y ago
      Not really. CEOs can make or break a business if they start enacting bad policies in the company. So the employees will notice too, not just other CEOs.
- atdrummond 4y ago
  Where did I say that I, in this hypothetical, would leave immediately? If the whole point is that I’ve realized I’m damaging the firm with my actions, why uncharitably assume I would choose an exit path that exacerbated the damage I already caused? The point is to make some sort of communication that you’re taking on board the consequences of your action, consequences that go well beyond trite platitudes of how difficult the process has been and how next time will be different.
twelve40 4y ago
yes it's pretty bad, but this is not Google sitting on billions of cash and dedicated groups analyzing macroeconomic conditions, this is a small startup with a complicated product and a complicated unpredictable b2b sales process.

mhluongo 4y ago

Huh, likely leaving the rest of the co in a lurch. Nice.

atdrummond 4y ago
There are multiple ways to transition out as CEO other than just saying “peace, I’m out”

winter_squirrel 4y ago

As a counterpart, if you have to layoff that many people, is it really the right time to also put the stress of a leadership shift into the company? I can see the argument for this triggering an eventual change, but having _both_ the chock of a CEO change _and_ 28% of the company being layed off at the same time seems unwise.

satvikpendem 4y ago
Indeed, laying off the CEO too screws over the entire company, not just the portion of people who got laid off.
- itronitron 4y ago
  Most CEOs are quite disposable.
  - KyeRussell 4y ago
    That’s a bold claim, and is more than anything a reflection of the sorts of orgs you tend to interact with.
    - atdrummond 4y ago
      Most executives fail when achieving a new C-level rank: https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-executives-fail-2015-3?international=true&r=US&IR=T https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-executives-fail-2015...
- walls 4y ago
  The only people who even notice a change of CEO are the other execs.
  - satvikpendem 4y ago
    Not really. CEOs can make or break a business if they start enacting bad policies in the company. So the employees will notice too, not just other CEOs.
atdrummond 4y ago
Where did I say that I, in this hypothetical, would leave immediately? If the whole point is that I’ve realized I’m damaging the firm with my actions, why uncharitably assume I would choose an exit path that exacerbated the damage I already caused? The point is to make some sort of communication that you’re taking on board the consequences of your action, consequences that go well beyond trite platitudes of how difficult the process has been and how next time will be different.

twelve40 4y ago

yes it's pretty bad, but this is not Google sitting on billions of cash and dedicated groups analyzing macroeconomic conditions, this is a small startup with a complicated product and a complicated unpredictable b2b sales process.