Reading Response - Week 2: Poor Boss
I think we should all be pretty familiar with most of the material covered in the textbook on emails by now. A specific thing that I really feel is worth mentioning is the advice on never reply to an important or for that reason a harsh email immediately. We should always think thoroughly and calmly before replying to something that aggravate our emotions; in result could cause us to respond inappropriately.
As a lesson from the news release and the boss’ email, we all need to be very careful about the sensitivity of the material and topic we discuss in e-mails. Before sending an important email, one should always think about the consequences and the perceptions that email my produce. Especially these days, there are a lot of privacy and network security issue so a very well thought out business email is very important.
With respect to Cerner CEO’s email to his employees, I somehow feel sorry for the guy as it got leaked. The e-mail was strictly mean for the employees and it was very unethical on the person’s part who leaked it to have it out to the press. I have read about a lot of different CEOs like Steve Jobs (Apple), Jack Welsh (GE) etc; who have been and can be extremely rude but, they have always ended up producing results. That’s just the way their personalities are and the employees need to respect that as long as what they do is in the best interest of the company. If the company does well, the employees do well. Soon we’ll all be entering the job market and we are going to encounter things on a daily basis that we would not necessarily like; but that doesn’t mean that we exploit that against our employer for personal benefits and talk about it. We all need to understand that in order for us to be successful; we all need to posses strong business ethics and have a strong organizational commitment to the company we end up working for.
Comments
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I completely Disagree that one should be sorry for the CEO of Cerner because he should have thought twice before sending such an Email. I agree to the fact He wanted to get some results out of it but he emailed all his employees and it is bound to happen that such sensitive matter is leaked though it is unethical and he should be responsible for his actions. As you have metioned above that one should be very careful about senstivity of the material and should not have disclosed such matter in an email. He could have rather opted for some other way to ensure changes in his company.
Think Before You Do
I agree with the point you made about not replying to a harsh E-mails right away. When in the heat of the moment, one may later regret a response that is too late. There is no way to unsend an E-mail, and as a result you will regret what you wrote. By taking some time to think over the situation and possibly cool down from an E-mail that was very upsetting, it allows the individual to be collected and respond in a mature, professional manner. This should have been the way the CEO could have treated the aggravation with his company. He could have figured out a plan to alleviate the problem, and address his employees in an encouraging way. It could have been a positive result for the entire company, but instead the E-mail leaked to the public and caused uproar.
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You are exactly right when you talk about not responding (or sending in the first place) harsh e-mails. That is the beauty of computer mediated communication (CMC) the fact that it is not immediate. You can write out your frustrations as Mr. Peterson did and it might make you feel better. However, here is the key part: DO NOT SEND.
Also, I do agree with you about feeling bad for Mr. Peterson. If that email hadn't been leaked or if the companies stock hadn't dropped then this would be a nonissue. There is no rule saying an exec HAS to be nice. This type of managing has been going on forever and I cannot believe someone would cry to a media source, "Our CEO is mean, waaaaah"
You make yet another good point when you mention that we will be entering the job market soon and will have to deal with situations like this. We don't graduate and have everything we know about people and human nature change just because, "Oh, now we aren't in school".
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I agree that you should never reply to a rude e--mail as soon as you get. Take some time off, process it and then reply. It makes you look like you have more control over your self and you avoid unnecessary trouble.
I however disagree with you about feeling bad for the CEO, I think a lot of CEO's can be aggressive but there is a way to do that. Jack Welsh and other CEO's are known for being a little rude at times but it does not become such a big deal of because they are really good CEO's otherwise. The fact that the Cerner CEO's e-mail was made such a big deal shows that he was not a good boss in general.
CEO
You bring up an interesting point by mentioning Steve Jobs and other CEO’s like him who have been very rude but are looked highly upon because they produce results. I think that is one thing that separates a good CEO from a great one. I recently read a book called “Good to Great” that discussed this very fact. The book documented all of the top 500 companies and picked out the best. It was amazing to find out that none of the CEO’s names were well known people like Steve Jobs and Lee Iacocca are get results when they are their but when they leave it is a disaster. Both have left their respective companies in ruins after leaving because they did not truly know how to lead. I think this is why the stock fell and why the company should be worried.
Reply
Replying immediately to a harsh or angry email is almost always a bad idea. I agree that one should wait and think about how to properly respond, rather than snapping back and regretting it later. It is much more professional to give yourself time to calm down and write a well-thought-out response. I don't agree that we should feel sorry for the CEO of Cerner. He made a mistake and is dealing with the consequences. I do, however, agree that it was a very unethical thing for the employee who leaked the information to do.
I agree with you. I think
I agree with you. I think the issue here, more than the rude e-mail the CEO wrote is the idea of privacy and confidentiality that employees should have. If he had the grounds to be so rude with the managers, and he would have organized a meeting to say the same things he wrote in that e-mail nothing would have happened. As I replied in someone else’s comment it was only the ignorance of what technology and communication can get you into. It’s impossible to be the CEO in a company without being strong and hard sometimes and although I would have never been that rude and I don’t think I ever will, I can’t judge on him.
Response
I agree with what your saying about not responding to fast to a harsh email. Many people tend to read something that is aimed at them and singling them out. Our natural human response is to stay and fight the email by shooting one back and trying to tell that person off. I think in taking time and "sleeping" on it, you could see things from the other person's view or atleast not be so ticked off when you reply to the email later on.
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The CEO of the company was at fault 100%, but on the other hand i feel sorry for him a little bit because when the information is leaked out to the press its not a good thing in some ways. The press loves to add some spice to the story and twists its a little bit as it said in one of the articles. So when some one reads the article they completely thing negative about that person and would call that person a bad man. I know the CEO of the company wanted to make a point and tell his people that they werent doing a good job, but i think the way he did it in was totally unnecessary.
I completely agree that an
I completely agree that an individual should never reply to an email in an emotional or aggravated state. It only exacerbates the issue. Computers don't carry emotions and sometimes the reader can misinterpret the meaning of your email.
In response to your comment on employee ethics, I concur that a worker should never go behind the employer's. They are, however, the one's that gave you the job. Not only does it put you in a predicament, but embarrasses oneself. This can also cause gossip, food for fodder, and can hurt one's reputation.