When to resign or not–Two tales of unhinged leadership

Resigning from a job is not easy. It is an admission that things did not work out, and whether a new job is lined up or not there is still uncertainty. Not everyone has the ‘easy’ choice of resigning; some must stay put for a variety of reasons. Let me give you two scenarios from two friends I recently caught up with. One resigned after a year, the other seriously considered it after two months. The common denominator: power-hungry and paranoid bosses. I don’t make any of this up, by the way–that’s why I write about it..

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A) An old friend, C-level exec who has worked in Asia for many years. Took a new job last year, headhunted away from a senior position to work for a smaller growing organisation. His new boss had worked his way up the ladder to become A-P President, overseeing a large part of a publicly traded US MNC.

My friend is a stand up guy, and I knew he was having challenges with the job–when we met the other week, he casually mentioned he’d resigned. Why? The boss.. My friend shook his head and said “It’s bad. I would not tell anyone to work there, and many of us are leaving.”

At management meetings, the boss would always reply to presentations with a “Are you sure that’s correct?”, focus on one line and rip them apart. Insecure, he valued loyalty first, not strengths; those he relied on were never new hires (like my friend) but the loyal ones. They were always scrounging for rumours, a control and command operation that had people nervous. The boss was single, his hobbies were fast cars and video games. His management style, coming up through the ranks, was unpolished, driven by innuendo and insecurity which trickled down to anxiety–at all levels.

My friend has worked at senior roles in a number of MNCs, and had never encountered this sort of behaviour at this level He grappled with it for a while, and tried to make a bad situation better. He enlisted a coach (company paid) but didn’t think the coach quite understood the viciousness of the corporate politics–and was beholden to the boss as well.

He decided it was untenable, and best to resign rather than tough it out–the boss was still the boss.

In his resignation, he met with the global CEO, and stated why he–and others–were leaving. The global CEO said he knew it was a problem, but that he had other problems to contend with, Asia would have to wait, and wished him well.
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B) Another senior exec, long time in Asia also, took a more senior job with a competitor 4 months ago, He realised soon after he started that the A-P President viewed him as a threat and was bad-mouthing him to global HQ as well as other country heads. My friend is [another] stand up guy, was at his previous company many years and not used to being shot at. He easily saw the boss’ insecurity; weak managers who did not challenge, was tied up in more personal that business issues, behaviour was also insecure, erratic and juvenile. He had solid academic and professional pedigree, and the region was profitable..

My friend was at first was ready to get out. He decided not to after hearing from staff and overseas HQ that the boss was a huge problem, not well liked–and begged him to stay on. My friend is now positioning himself more strategically to be one step ahead of the boss–a lot of work, but he’ll survive–he now knows who’s in his corner, knows the boss’ MO, and can not only protect himself but outshine the boss..
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If anyone thinks a boss can change if given help with 360s, constructive feedback, or coached to improve, they’re usually wrong. The boss generally doesn’t think anything is terribly wrong–that’s why they’re in charge. And would you want to tell the person who controls your future that they’re not up to standard? This is not to say all bosses are sociopaths, but that getting leaders to change their ways is an uphill battle..

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When the work situation is toxic, AND you have fully explored your options internally, get out if there is no tangible solution. In such a case, the boss will win because they have license, and may stay longer than you’d like to think. Line your ducks up and move when you’re ready–if that option exists (My first friend did not simply say, “I quit.” He bided his time, worked his network, and now has a couple of solid options he’s considering). If not, either position yourself like my second friend to build your profile internally, or go on autopilot at work and organise your time to build your profile externally. But either way get moving.

The buck always stops at the top. If a global CEO won’t address an exodus of talent because of aberrant management, then the fault lies with the global CEO or board. If, on the other hand, global HQ knows–for sure–what is happening, then they must act on it, not push it back until later, which is wishing away a problem. When you see a snake in the grass, you kill it.

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Companies talk about how their talent and leadership differentiates them from the competition. In both cases above, it clearly does–to their detriment.

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