to cut it down to be effective.” So I had to go through a painful process of selecting who would stay on my team and who would go— who would still be at the table and who would be invited to leave. I had to break the news to Brian that he was no longer going to have a chair with the top leadership team. He was actually going to report to one of the people who, up to that point, had been his peer. I eventually got my direct reports down to seven. In such highly charged, vulnerable moments, when there are big issues going on, there is no substitute for face time. I knew this would be a delicate situation for Brian because these changes involved his moving into a totally different place in the organization. I knew that many circumstances surrounding the decision would be difficult for him. I knew that he would feel demoted. I also knew it was best for him, because I knew what he really liked to do and I realized that, whether he knew it or not, this would free him up to pursue his passion. I might have seen that clearly, but it was extremely hard for him to grasp.
In a commitment to clear personal communication with Brian, I carefully explained the decisions and why I had made them. I allowed plenty of time for feedback and questions. When the conversation was over, I was surprised at Brian’ s reaction. He took it very well, calmly, almost stoically. I remember thinking to myself,“ This doesn’ t add up. Either this guy is a lot more mature than anybody I’ ve ever met or something else is going on.” In fact, I was so bewildered that I told him to go home and think about it and asked to meet with him again in a couple of days. I was convinced that a whole minefield of issues was under the waterline— issues that would soon erupt onto the surface. Brian assured me,“ It’ s fine. I got it. No problem. We don’ t need to meet again.”
I forced that second meeting a couple of days later. And my gut was right. Brian went home that night and barely slept. Sure enough, issues exploded from under the surface within twenty-four hours. As he was mulling over the implications of my decision in his heart, the ramifications came:“ What are people going to think? What am I going to do? I’ m no longer as important as I was. I have
It’ s always a good idea to follow your gut perceptions about the people you work with.
been demoted.” He was reeling with emotional confusion. He told me he got up at 3:00 a. m. and wandered the streets of his neighborhood, extremely upset about what I had shared with him. To say the least, he was very angry with me.
Fortunately, I followed up on my intuition. It’ s always a good idea to follow your gut perceptions about the people you work with. Leaving things alone in hopes that they will resolve themselves is never a good idea. We scheduled the follow-up meeting and finally got to the real issues at hand. I learned a valuable lesson from that episode: don’ t assume people are going to take what you tell them at face value. Brian did feel devalued. He said,“ Gosh, I’ m just not as important as I used to be; this is the
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