Dani the Front-Stabbing CEO

Dani is the CEO of Bellerose Exhibits and Events—an events planning firm that coordinates all aspects of events and professional meetings. Among the many tasks Bellerose handles for clients are arranging meeting locations, providing for transportation, erecting and taking down exhibitor booths, and supervising the installation of technology for the events. At times Bellerose also organizes a theme for the event, such as pretending that participants are superheroes or superheroines, or an emphasis on charitable giving.

Dani has decided that a deterrent to Bellerose is that she as well as other staff members are too gentle in their feedback to each other. Instead of being totally honest with other about mistakes or errors in judgment, staff members tend to be too polite and indirect in their feedback to each other. Dani has read that some firms have moved toward front-stabbing, or complete candor in discussing problems directly with people. She decides to initiate a process of her as well as other staff members being more open in bringing problems to each other’s attention. Her approach was to send an e-mail to all Bellerose workers to launch the front-stabbing initiative.

The day after announcing the initiative, Brock, an exhibits designer, asked Dani what she thought of the neon sign he used to decorate a client’s booth. Dani replied, “The neon sign might work as a design to help build a retro image. But you sign was just a distraction for a company that wanted to publicize its food supplements.” Brock replied, “Was my neon sign really that bad?”

The next morning Katrina, Dani’s administrative assistant, dropped by her cubicle to review a few items on the budget. Dani said, “Before we get started on these budget items, I have an observation to share with you. Your appearance has deteriorated recently. Your hair is often messy, you have bags under your eyes, and your clothing combination often looks like it was chosen at random from your closet. What’s wrong with you?’ Katrina replied, “Dani you are being a little harsh. I have been experiencing some personal problems during the last few months.”

The following Monday morning, Dani held a strategy meeting with her top management team. As she had alerted the team prior to the meeting, she would be presenting a revised vision statement. Before getting to the theme of the meeting, Dani asked if there were any other key issues that should be addressed. Lyndon, an events-planning associate, said, “Dani, I am concerned about the parking lot we all use. The snow-plowing is poor, and there is a lot of debris scattered about.” Cheryl, the chief finance officer, responded to Lyndon in these terms: “Lyndon, you are being small minded when you should be thinking big about the company vision.”

Dani later presented her new vision for Bellerose, as follows: “Within five years we will become the world standard of excellence for designing and executing events to a wide variety of organizations. The events we plan will take our clients to new heights of organizational performance.”

Karl, the chief technology officer, responded to Dani’s vision in this manner: “Dani, have you been smoking medical marijuana? Are you creating a sensible vision for us, or are you hallucinating?”

As the meeting disbanded one hour later, Dani thought, “Has my front-stabbing initiative gone too far. Am I being nasty with my staff, and are they being nasty with each other?”

Questions

1. How helpful does the new candid feedback at Bellerose appear to be?
2. What suggestions might you make to Dani and her staff so that candid feedback to each other does not trigger interpersonal conflict .