Faux Growth

I have to say some of us who had the misfortune of being part of A's organization way back in the day, have found vindication his "managed exit arc" as one of his peers called it. The company in question systematically reduced a his influence without resorting to a high-profile termination. It was not entirely clear why termination would be such a terrible choice given how easily they fire rank and file folk who objectively delivered better results than A did. This process started with an initial demotion or "containment", as this guy described. It brought to mind a team in hazmat suits. This was followed by a temporary reassignment that appeared to offer new opportunities but lacked real authority, budget, or growth potential. 

A marketed it as strategic and game-changing for him and his team. Ultimately, he was folded into a less influential, functional role after the "one-year watch period" following the role reset. He now reports to some random leader in an equally random part of the company. L, my former co-worker who has suffered endlessly under A's incompetent leadership called to share the "latest on A". She says there are signs that he may be soon sending out one of those cringe-worthy notes to say that he is stepping away for a bit to spend meaningful time with his family, Rumor has it that he is estranged from his adult kids and the wife is often traveling with her group of girl-friends. 

I met A only once during my time there and found him to be faux charming and imperious at the same time. He made it appear as if he was giving me an audience and I should be grateful for it. I told L at the time that she should consider finding another job because this one would surely prove to be a dead end. At the time, she was on a fast track to promotion and wanted to make the final push. Needless to say that promotion never came about, she just had to pick up a ton more work in the process of trying to earn it.