[dweck]

I am in charge of the company's quarterly newsletter.

Next issue is supposed to hit employees' desks on Mar 31.

The front page -- the CEO's message -- is still blank.

I have written THREE proposed articles for him. He has failed to okay any of them. I've met w/the guy 1:1 and tried to wrestle from him what he wants to say, and he will not commit to anything.

Then, last Wed, we had our corporate bloodbath here. 50-some people shown the door. 20% of the workforce wiped. He issued a very cryptic (and poorly written) e-mail following the firings, which really didn't say anything of value.

And the clock on this pub continued to tick.

I e-mailed him this morning, asking once again for his thoughts on my latest draft (in which I wrote about the shakiness of the industry vs our strengths that should lead to confidence).

My msg to him:

Still eager to get your feedback regarding the latest draft for your cover story in the March 2009 issue of {n/l}. I've attached it again for you convenience. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to advance this toward publication.

His answer to me:

Well the question is what is the right message now? We should look at the need for communication with everyone and potentially with outside eyes.

WHAT IS THE MESSAGE NOW!?!?!?!?!?! JEEZ-A-ROO! YOU'RE THE CEO! If YOU don't know, WHO DOES????

My reply to him:

Given the events of the past few days, I can't think of a more pressing need than to communicate with the {companyname} family right now.

The draft attached spoke of confidence in these shaky times. Still applicable, don't you think? To both internal and external audiences.

Perhaps could be bolstered with thoughts from your e-mail.

I can revise, resubmit, and keep the publication moving, if that's what you advise.

Thus far, no answer.

~~sigh~~

 

[MidwestGirl]

He sounds nervous

 

[dweck]

Loved this mollycoddle from our HR director on the same topic (moving the N/L on):

Let' not push. It has been a rough couple of weeks. Thanks.

ROUGH?!?! For him!?!? What about the employees he sacked?

 

[MidwestGirl]

HR director must be walking on eggshells......

 

[Di]

You could summit the news letter with the blank space, that would exude confidence don't you think Sounds like your giving it your best shot Dan don't know what else there is you can do, and probably a swift kick won't help

 

[dweck]

You could summit the news letter with the blank space, that would exude confidence don't you think

LOL!!!

I need one of three things to happen:

1 - Cancel the darned thing outright.
2 - Get CEOman to move off his iceberg and participate in a timely fashion.
3 - Get CEOman to agree to let us proceed w/out him. Run issues in which he has no article.

Thus far, we're at #4: Stall and stall and stall and stall and provide no direction whatsoever.

Lest anyone think this is a recent development -- that maybe he's tongue-tied over the staffing cuts -- know that the EXACT thing happened w/the last issue (4Q08).

If he's disinterested, you think he'd angle toward 1 or 3 and walk away in one form or another. But no........

 

[CoCosMom]

Perhaps you need to actually provide him with those options and ask him to choose one. Maybe in a more tactful way, lol.

 

[HersheyK's Dad]

I think the proper suggestion is for him to hire an outside consultant, maybe pay him/her $50K-$100K to tell him what message he should be conveying to the staff in the current environment. Then if the reaction is poor, he can blame the consultant.

 

[Golfgirlrobin]

My guess is he stalled 4th Quarter because he knew what was coming, and he's stalling now because he knows there's more coming and he's uncomfortable giving any kind of message that might be misinterpreted.

I think the HR person is right; if there's more coming then you don't need to seen by the CEO as the guy who's pushing him too hard.

 

[dweck]

My mantra over all this: I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed.....

 

[patm]

I think that is would be great to leave it blank. Just make sure you've covered your butt by saving all those communications.

 

[CoCosMom]

My mantra over all this: I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed. I am lucky to be employed.....

This is an efficiency vs. effectiveness test: Did you cut/paste your mantra or type each one individually?

 

[dweck]

cut/paste

 

[CoCosMom]

cut/paste

Obviously you are not committed to your mantra. Effective mantra'ing takes time and diligence.

 

[dweck]

I am lucky to be empkloiyed and wkk not shortcut on ma ntras
U am luckty to be emplkiyed and wulll nit shortcyr on mntras
'I am klucjkt to be employesd and wuikll nbot surotycuyt on mantra'
I am lucktg to be eployed andwill not shortcur onmantras
I am lufney to be emplkyed and will t sbowrcut on mantas

 

[kelli]

It's just a quarterly newsletter.. who cares? The HR person is right.. it's been tough on everyone.. including a CEO.. if it were me, i'd feel bad that i had to let people go...

 

[dweck]

It's just a quarterly newsletter.. who cares? The HR person is right.. it's been tough on everyone.. including a CEO.. if it were me, i'd feel bad that i had to let people go...

Fine. Great. Let's communicate that.
Instead, I get BS like -- Well what IS the message right now?

 

[kelli]

Fine. Great. Let's communicate that.
Instead, I get BS like -- Well what IS the message right now?

Oh.. i see what you're saying.. you're a tracker-downer.. i try not to.. if people have things to give me, and it's no skin off my teeth if it doesn't get done, i don't harrass.

I do several newsletters.. if you **** isn't in, it doesn't go. Period.

Not that you can do that with the CEO.. but you can give him your direction and just leave the rest up to him.. push it aside until he decides what he wants to do.

 

[dweck]

Yeah - That's where I am now. I'll sit in wait-n-see mode for a few days. And move onto other projects.

This CEO is very communications-averse anyway. N/L was foisted on him by HR dir, who really wanted it. Note the past tense.

If it dries up and blows away, my only concern is that it is/was listed as one of my corporate goals for 2009. I don't want its death to come back and bite me later in the year.

<<off to archive e-mails in an exercise in ass-coverage>>

 

[HersheyK's Dad]

It is one of your goals for 09, may impact you career, or at least the next raise if there are any. Different light on the whole thing. Have to versions ready for the presses.
(1) Version 1 with space allocated for the CEOs message if there is one.
(2) Version 2 condensed without holding space for CEO message. Due date arrives and you will know which one to send.