Would Your CEO Fire an Overt Racist If he/she Was a KPI Machine?
Let me set this stage for ya.
Probably in April 2019, maybe that first weekend, my then-girlfriend, now-fiancee (!) goes to some baby shower. Later that night, a bunch of us were going to an event with burgers and beers and jazz music and the like.
I went for a run and then, because I’m very wise about how running works, I went and got some beers at a place by where I lived at the time.
Somehow, on a Saturday late morning, I start talking to this CEO of a 500-person company in North Carolina. I live in Texas. This bar is in Texas. He had been here talking to prospects and missed a flight, so he was still here and flying back later that day.
We talked for about an hour or three beers, whichever came first. (I think it was the beers.) He seemed like a good guy, but probably a little “MAGA” if you know what I mean. He did seem to care about those 500 people employed by his company, however.
One thing he said to me that always stands out, a year and a half later, is that he doesn’t understand the “Chasing Woke” or “PC Sea” movements you sometimes see.
Here’s a paraphrased quote of his:
“Business is about business. It’s about money and deals and strategy and acquisitions and market share. See, I want my people to have good lives, and good families, and afford their needs and a nice home. But part of that is like, if you come to me with a wellness program, and my best sales guy is obese, going to bars on the road, blowing coke, but he’s still selling big-time, that allows those other things to happen.”
That’s paraphrased but he did use the term “blowing coke.”
Now here’s another story
I got a friend who works HR in mid-America. There’s a dude at her company. Big performer. Makes quota and then makes it again, in Month 1 of a quarter. So, over time, as you might sadly expect, women start coming forward that he’s gropy and aggressive. Then, concurrently to that, people start coming forward about the “n-word” and other racial issues he’s spouting off, sometimes in common work areas.