- MANAGEMENT DIFFICULT DECISIONS
EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER
Geschäftlich und beruflich müssen oft harte Entscheidungen getroffen werden, die für alle Beteiligten
von großer Tragweite sind. FÜhrungskräfte aus mehreren Ländern haben VtCKI SUSSENS·MESSERER von
ihren guten und auch von ihren Fehlentscheidungen berichtet. millin.ou discover t hat one o f yom best ma nagers is
a paedophile. Sho uld you fire hirn? Yo ur busi·
ness partner no longer believes th a r rhe com'
pany you started rogerhe r will work. Is she
right? Making rough decisions is part of the
jo b of being a manager. Some decisions, however, will
send even rhe most experienced o f managers on an emo·
riona l r oller coaster, as the srories below show.
"Difficult decisions are usually those that ~
stro ng emotions," says US management expert Rick
Brenner, head of Chaco Canyon Coosuhing in Cam·
bridge, Massachusens. "The dilemmas often ha ve very
linie to do with the pro blem itself but come from per·
so nal conflicts." (See box on page 59 .)
In this article, we look in some detail a t the personal
conflicts three managers ~ as they took th e most dif·
ficult management decisions o f t heir careers.- How would you react if one of your man-
agers was arrested on oaedoDhjle charges?
"He was rny friend and in
a lot of trouble. I prornised
to help hirn"
Jake Golden, head of a large building finn
in Pretoria, South Africa"The day the police came ro arreSt one of my staff on
paedophile charges was th e mOst horrible of my life,"
says j a ke Golden. The police told hirn that a computer
repa ir firm had found thollsa nds of pharos of young
boys on th e horne computer of one of his best managers,
M a rk j ac kson. jackson was going to be chargcd with
producing child pornography.
"You could have blown me down with a fuaI.h.cr,"
says Golden, who has asked for borh th eir names ro be
changed. " I've known M a rk for 40 years, and we have
worked rogether for 15. I would never have guessed rhat
about hirn." He was la te r fO be found guilty.
Torn between P.i.u for his friend and horror at what
he had done, Golden was t hrown into a di lemma. He
knew that his job as a manager was to protect his com·
pany's reputation, but he had always bee n a n ex tr eme·
ly loyal friend. Should he firej ac kson? "My first instincr56 BusiMSSSpoIligbl
was tO rry to help Mark. I realize now that that was
wrong," says the 65·year·old farher of t hree.
It all began last November. After arresti ngJ ackson ar
work , t he police took him tO his fla t, where rhey found
cven more photos. While they were searching t he flar,
j ackson as ked ro go tO the roilcr, where he took aha nd·
ful of sleeping piHs. "'When I found our, I went to visit
hirn in hospita l," says Golden. " He was chained to thc
bed with a big steel ring round his leg. Ir was te rr ible. I
was shocked by what he had done, bur he was my
friend and in a lot of trouble. I promised to help hirn."
Back at the office, the staff wanted answers. Many
had seen the police taking j ac kso n away, and Golden
knew he had to acr faSt. j ackson's behaviour was not ac·
ceptable by any mora l standards. It was a lso a rhreat to
the company's reputa tion. Golden made an immediate
decision to suspend jackson, pendin~ the outcome of the
police investigations. Then he ca lied a meeting, reHing
the staff thar the char~es facing j ackson were serious,
bur that they had norhing to do with the company.
Worried rha t the media wOllld connect his fir m tO the
matter, Golden also told journalisrs that the case hadabuse [J 'bju:s]
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face sth. [felsl
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me down wilh oll -['fcoo]
fil (fI! I
lound guilty: be - [ ,bond 'gth;1
healthy l'hclOi]
mutoall 'mju:tJu;)II---
paeclophile [' pi:d;)()fat'l)
paedophile charges: on -
l'pi:d;)()far'l ,tJO:dJlll
pending lhe outcome
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pity ['pt!i] ____ ~
roller coaster
['r.lOl;) ,kJOst ;)]
suspend sb. [S;J'~pend)
triuer 5th. ['trtg;J[
turn one's back an Sb.
[,13:n w"nl 'ba::~ on]
upset [,,,p'SCI)MiSSbrauch
jmdn. missbrauchen
jmdn. t>eschuldigen. etw. zu
I""
hier: Anklagepunkt
wegen einer Sache ange·
k1!lgt werden
Untemehmensberatung
zehrend: hier: belastend
etw. gegenOberstenen
Ich war wie vom Donner
gerOhrt
hier: geeignet
lOr schuldig belunden wer·
d,"
hier: ~ernOnftig --
gemeinsam
P&dophile(r)
angeklagt wegen Pildophilie
bts das Ergebnis feststehtMltletd
Achterbahn
jmdn. zeitweilig beurlauben
etw. auslösen
siCh von jmdm. abwenden
aufgebracht4/2010