A reader writes:
I was hired to drive the channel and marketing strategy for a technology company. The company was failing miserably with their channel model; the changes I implanted set them on the right path and the metrics prove it. I was recently let go, not for performance reasons, but ostensibly because the company was changing direction, moving away from channel and scaling back marketing.
The real reason I was asked to leave was because of the pressure put on my boss by one of my peers. He is a master at self-promotion and was promoted to VP, despite the fact that his sales track record is less than stellar. However, he sounds good and the SVP is a weak manager and a conflict avoider, and let himself be completely overrun. (What the SVP doesn’t realize is that the VP also has a campaign going to get rid of the SVP. The VP actually told me that he had been lobbying the CEO about this!)
The VP and I never saw eye to eye. He was in charge of the failing channel model when I took over. He also thinks he is a marketing genius but nothing could be further from the truth. Once he became VP, he saw himself as my “superior” even though our relationship in the org chart was at the same level. He felt free to demand that I do things certain ways and even went so far as to counter the direction I had given to my direct reports.
Looking back on this I am more glad than ever that I was let go. It was a decision I was preparing to make myself anyway. However, I can’t help but thinking there must have been something I could have done to have handled this better. Was there something under my control that I overlooked?
I’m afraid so. You were politically outmaneuvered at every turn. Here are your mistakes:
- Mistake #1. Losing the battle over strategic direction. Once you had established yourself as the king of channel strategy, any change in direction that lessened the importance of channel sales lessened your authority and political power. If the deemphasis on channels was a business necessity, the only way for you to survive the strategic change without losing power would have been for you to drive the change personally.
- Mistake #2. Failing to defend your manager. The minute the VP told you that he was plotting against the SVP, you should have conveyed that information to the SVP , preferably in a way that would allow you to help the SVP fight against the VP’s lobbying. Based upon your statements about your SVP, he was your best ally, weak-kneed or not. You failed him and you paid the price.
- Mistake #3. Letting the VP become your defacto boss. The moment you let the VP countermand your management directions, he became your boss, regardless of what it said on the org chart. You should have written a memo to your staff instructing them not to take orders from the VP under any circumstances. Also, if you weren’t given the same title (VP), you should have demanded it, with an ultimatum if necessary.
- Mistake #4. Failing to isolate the VP. Executives like this VP always leave a trail of enemies. Once you realized that he was a threat, you should have rallied the opposition against him, so that every time he was in a meeting, there would be obstructions and problems and delays. You should have given his organization lip service and then actively worked to make it, and him, unsuccessful.
- Mistake #5. Not developing your exit plan. You should have known that you might end up being outmaneuvered and thus found a new job while you were still in your current job. It’s generally easier to find a good position when you’re currently employed, but (more importantly) having a viable back up plan provides a little extra backbone when it comes to playing hardball.
If some of the advice I’ve given above sounds a little like dirty pool, well…, that’s the way the game is played inside some companies.
On the bright side, you’ve come out of the situation with your reputation intact and with a good severance package. So you’re better off than most folk.
Best of luck to you.
UPDATE (7/11): Just got an email from author of the original email. Here it is:
Just wanted to let you know that I think you nailed it with your advice… I tried to stay “clean” and he wasn’t playing a clean game. Just by being there, I was going to get mud on me. I might as well have fought back while working on my exit strategy. TW, I do actually feel very fortunate. It was a good experience dealing with that. And, I’m doing pretty well. I haven’t found my next gig yet, but I’ve got a couple of really interesting things in the works.
