Tales from the Corporate Crypt....

I jerked my hand away from the rusty doorknob as I heard a scream pierce the night. Was that scream coming from inside? As quiet as it could be at times…. there were times where the victims from corporate days gone by cried out for their stories to be told. Even though I knew the crypt was safe, I felt a shudder go through my body as I put my hand out to open the door again. Inside, all was quiet. As I walked down the corridor leading to the main room, I wondered which tale I would recount next. It was never easy to decide….there were so many to choose from.

By definition, a consultant is an experienced professional who provides expert knowledge for a fee. By definition, an interventionist is an experienced professional who intervenes in difficult situations in which ordinary methods and solutions have failed to work. I am typically playing the role of the interventionist. My recommendations are usually anything but ordinary and target more often than not the deeper core issues. Besides the tools of my craft, I always bring a generous supply of non-judgementalness, empathy, creativity and humor. There are expectations of confidentiality of course.....and thus the birth of the corporate crypt…to house the disturbing, unbelievable and often amusing memories I had collected throughout my years as a corporate interventionist. As I stepped into the main room, I heard a rustling noise behind one of the many doors…..I reached out my hand to brush away the dust that had collected on the nameplate. What I read took me back in time……and so the tale begins.

I got an urgent call from an executive who was beside himself. “Please come immediately! I don’t know how much longer I will be able to hang on.” Well versed in crisis management (I am a former hospital psych director and also have an ex-husband) I jumped in my car and made my way to the company as quickly as I could. This was a new client for me …a consultant friend of mine had told him that I was the person for the job. A very dense and dark cloud of anxiety greeted me as I was ushered into his office. In front of me, was a very distinguished gentleman who was impeccably dressed. His wall boasted of his career accomplishments and university degrees. I couldn’t help but notice the grave look of worry and concern on his face. I have a very serious problem and I am at the end of my rope. He pointed to the office next to him and said: “She is literally driving me crazy. I can’t take it anymore”.

He then proceeded to tell me about a woman he had hired 9 months prior for a VP role. He recounted story after story about how this woman was ruining his life. “She doesn’t come to me for approval for her initiatives, but just does whatever she wants. She ignores the chain of command and acts as if she is running her own business. I email her with directives that she obviously ignores, since she never seems to do what I want her to do anyway. Yesterday in a meeting, she came in looking pretty disheveled and she proceeded to update everyone in the department about all the projects she is initiating. When I questioned one of her actions, she raised her voice when she answered me and then just kept going. Unbelievable….now I’m convinced she’s crazy. I don’t want to jeopardize the company by having a crazy person work in this department. I need you to do whatever magic you can do to get rid of her as quickly as possible”. As he finished talking, he let out a big sigh….it definitely sounded like someone in anguish.

At this point, the intervention began.

“I can help you solve your problem, but before I tell you what I recommend, I am going to ask you three questions.”

He said, “Ask away. I’ll answer absolutely anything.”

“The first question is this…if I sat down to talk with her and I ask her how she thought she was doing in her role, what do you think she would say?”

He thought for a moment and said, “I bet she would say she is doing great”.

“Ok. Ready for question number two? After his affirmative nod, I asked, ”if I continued my talk with her, and I asked her how she thought YOU would say she is doing, what do you suppose she would say?”

He took a little longer to answer this, and as he said, “I think she would say that I think she is doing a great job, he began to shift uncomfortably in his chair.

“The third question” I said “is this. How long have you been afraid of conflict?” He buried his face into the palms of his hands and shook his head back and forth. In a muffled voice, he said, “I’ve always been petrified of conflict”.

To which I replied,”then it has been a very long 9 months for you, hasn’t it? It is very clear to me that you are a very strong and resilient person. What you have endured by avoiding the conflict is way harder than it would have been had you addressed this situation at the onset. There is no doubt that you have what it takes to change inside of you. It just has to be the right time for you and I think now might be that time. The pain of staying the same has to be worse than the fear of change.”

And was it the right time for him? Yes, it was. My client learned to be more comfortable with being uncomfortable and succeeded in having some pretty difficult conversations with his rogue VP. She didn’t end up staying with the company, but she did leave knowing more about herself and how she came across to others. It’s likely that in her new company, she will not make the same mistakes. And as for my client, the executive, he still doesn’t like conflict, but will now take the necessary steps to address it before things get way out of hand.

Unbelievable, you might think!! Think again. He’s not the first and won’t be the last executive I worked with who is conflict averse…we all have our issues with the other people we live and work with…which, let’s face it, is great for me…I’ll always have plenty of business. And speaking of business…I’ve got to go…another intervention awaits…until next time with another tale from the corporate crypt!