The New York Times reports that Vishal Garg, the co-founder and CEO of Better.com, who earned considerable criticism when he fired 900 employees during a single Zoom meeting, is "taking time off" following "the very regrettable event."
The news was announced by the company's board of directors in a memo to the company's remaining staff on Friday.
Garg had told the staffers on the Zoom call that "if you’re on this call you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off. Your employment here is terminated effective immediately." Subsequent reports said that all the affected people saw their computer access immediately shut off, and that Garg accused people of stealing from the company by working only two hours a day - an allegation that some challenged by noting that some of the laid off people recently had been rewarded with raises and promotions.
- KC's View:
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This is one of those cases where the board had to step up - the company was taking a beating in the court of public opinion, and Garg sounds like a real piece of work. The next step should be replacing him.
MNB reader Debra K.W. Topham sent me an email over the weekend suggesting that this could reflect a growing number of cases of "narcissistic personality disorder mistakenly perceived as ideal leadership," and this could be another pandemic for businesses?
I think that is savvy observation. I think some of these so-called leaders have breathed way too much of their own exhaust, and don't understand that in the end it is a lot more rewarding, though admittedly a lot harder, to create a culture of caring within an organization.
But I also think it isn't just in business. There is a lot of narcissistic personality disorder going around, and a lot of people putting their eggs in questionable baskets.
