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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:
My reply to him:
~~sigh~~
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:
His answer to me: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.
WHAT IS THE MESSAGE NOW!?!?!?!?!?! JEEZ-A-ROO! YOU'RE THE CEO! If YOU don't know, WHO DOES????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.
My reply to him:
Thus far, no answer.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.
~~sigh~~