There are about as many employee manuals and books on how to hire and fire as there are workers in the news and information industry. One of the things that we focus on with our clients, is when and how to fire an employee. In this ‘litigation happy’ society, all it takes is one high level executive releasing an employee for gray area reasons; over the phone, without the employee given the opportunity to meet face to face, using statements like ‘the decisions already been made,’ or (and this is one of my favorites) ‘It’s above my head-the deals done’, and you’re in court and no-one wins. Now enters Ellen Weiss the Senior Vice President for News at NPR and Vivian Schiller the President and CEO of NPR, fine people-I’m sure.
It was Lord Acton, the British historian, who said: "All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." Well, in the left leaning much enabled environment at National Public Radio, this quotation was in play in the course of the firing of Juan Williams. As I posted a few days ago, you just about have to have been on Mars while this was going on to not know about it. I have listened to Juan for many years on NPR and, although I didn’t always agree with some of his ideas; he was concise, well spoken and he stayed on subject. Imagine my surprise when he showed up on Fox news channel. If NPR didn’t want Juan on Fox, the idea should have been quashed before it ever happened. Check out a few points below about the firing of Juan, from a business owner’s view, the top of the chain.
1. The consideration that while at Fox, Juan might say something that would clash with the hard left leaning NPR should have been considered before Juan ever went with Fox. Any half brained middle manger would have recognized how difficult it would be to put that genie back in the bottle. Since the decision was made to allow Juan to play in the ‘fair and balanced’ sandbox at Fox, he should have been left alone to speak as he chose, after all-Fox left him alone.
2. Typical for many executive managers that are really good at doing as told, and not known for independent thinking, Weiss just makes the phone call. For not questioning the decision, for not calling Juan in to have a face to face, for not negotiating Juan’s contract for more clarity on the boundaries, Weiss placed shame onto herself. Shame that everyone that may work for her will be aware of, constantly. After all, if this is how Weiss handles her business, how secure can her directs feel about their jobs?
3. Schiller must have felt that NPR needed the press, as bad as it’s been. It’s the only thing I can think of that would have remotely registered in her head when she made the decision to can Williams. During fund raising week, having it done over phone, and the comments that she followed up with at the Atlanta Press Club. Schiller must have felt that NPR didn’t need a black male on the air, she also mentioned that Juan should share his thoughts ’…with his psychiatrist…’ Schiller must feel the need to share the sense of elite executive enablement with the 900 or so public radio stations and their listeners with no concern for accountability.
It should be said at this point, that incompetent bone-head managers make important business decisions every day, with no concern for the fall out. So to say that NPR is the only organization to ever do something like 'the Juan thing' would be completely wrong. But, Schiller and Weiss broke almost every rule in the book, and the only concern that Schiller has shown is that this happened during fund raising week. This event will go full circle for Schiller and Weiss, it will come back to hurt them and in my opinion they deserve it. However, as a teaching moment, this is a great example of the incompetence and ineffectiveness that results from putting the wrong people in the wrong seats on the bus.
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