CEOs that exhibit good leadership will gather their staff and encourage them to share their opinions, but they should also remind them that it is never appropriate to yell at, shame, or embarrass coworkers; doing so is a behavioral infraction. We’ve reached a point where an increasing number of CEOs are setting this out. Being impolite is not something they will put up with.
That genuinely makes me happy. We really did overcorrect, in my opinion. It’s wonderful that you want people to bring their whole selves to work, but we’ve discovered that, as long as they agree with it, people welcome diversity.
You would be shocked at how many people wish to work solely for the purpose of working. They don’t want to discuss social topics at work.
Should the executives of businesses that demonstrators are calling out react?
Usually, you just ignore it. There will always be a subset of workers who disagree with you, your business partners, or other commercial matters. By definition, a CEO may find themselves in daily situations where they must handle every client interaction. The CEO and the head of HR decide up front what our values are and how we will conduct business. Employees need to understand it; this is known as cultural clarity. Then, workers have the option to self-select; they are not required to work there.
However, some problems are important to address, and it’s obvious that we don’t want to silence staff members or prevent them from talking to us. In my opinion, it boils down to these three words: challenge, decide, and commit.
If you disagree that we should conduct business with someone, then raise your objections. As CEO, I encourage feedback from my staff, so feel free to question our procedures. I will reply based on it, and you will then have to make a decision. You also have to follow through on your decision. Employees can also choose to leave if they disagree with the choice.
Thus, in general, we urge CEOs to desire to be forced to adopt new perspectives. However, politely and respectfully challenging them is necessary. But once a choice is made, it cannot be changed. We have a business to run; therefore, we can’t keep filing lawsuits.
You talk to CEOs on a daily basis.Do they fear demonstrations from their employees?
Indeed. The majority of CEOs I’ve spoken with have stated that while they haven’t witnessed staff protests, they are prepared for them. They don’t believe Google will be the only one affected. Having said that, I don’t think it will spread too much given how quickly and shamelessly Google resolved the issue. It won’t catch on, in my opinion.
Although I believe Google’s approach has provided other companies with a lot of cover, I’m hearing that many management teams have put preparations in place just in case.
