Washington DC
If we’re lucky, we discern at an early age between good people who are authentically tough and less developed people who just pretend to be tough. Preening tough guys are often full of bluster, pretense, divisiveness and disregard for the consequences of their behaviors, all described well by Stanford’s Robert Sutton in his colorfully titled book, "The No Asshole Rule" (2007).
It’s in this context that one notes the recent death of former Sunbeam CEO “Chainsaw Al” Dunlap. I recall my combined fascination and revulsion with this 1990s’ cost-cutting maven who eliminated many thousands of jobs at Sunbeam and elsewhere.
Sure, authentically tough executives often need to cut bloated costs and eliminate jobs to save companies. It was Dunlap’s recklessness and self-promotional glee that always irked me, however, especially after publication of his 1996 paean to self, “The Art of the” .... er, wait a minute, that’s not it .... “Mean Business: How I Save Bad Companies and Make Good Companies Great.” Sure, Al, I have no doubt that you and only you alone saved those companies.
Naturally, Sunbeam was not saved. It’s arguably true that Dunlap’s chainsaw approach hastened the company’s demise. Dunlap cut indiscriminately and in ways that left the company demoralized and hollowed out from within.
No doubt that Sunbeam was on a serious downward trajectory in the ‘90s when the company hired Dunlap to save it. He was certainly determined to fix things. He flexed his muscles to rave reviews in some quarters but, alas, the firm filed for bankruptcy in 1998 and its remains were sold in 2005. And of course, Dunlap and his management team were caught cooking the books, too, and paid steep fines to settle both SEC charges and a class-action lawsuit.
We can learn a great deal from Al Dunlap. Firing tens of thousands of people should not be undertaken with apparent joy and merchandised egotistically. Instead, it should be a humbling act guided by clear, determined strategy and fair process. I had to announce and defend thousands of job reductions during my corporate days. Of course you have to be firm and tough, but there’s still a right way and a wrong way to do it. A human way.
Some older managers complain about young peoples' relative indifference to their employers today and the seeming lack of organizational loyalty that once existed with earlier generations. Look at it from younger peoples' perspective, however. Might the countless “rightsizings” and “downsizings” of the '90s - often bloody, poorly strategized and ineffectively communicated - that slammed their parents and grandparents have shaped the skepticism they have about employers today? Yes, we truly do reap what we sow.
Al Dunlap once told The Wall Street Journal that his alma mater West Point is “the best business school in the world.” The proud Army veteran was correct. Too bad he lost sight of how to lead his own troops in the midst of battle.
Al Dunlap once told The Wall Street Journal that his alma mater West Point is “the best business school in the world.” The proud Army veteran was correct. Too bad he lost sight of how to lead his own troops in the midst of battle.