If you live in a kingdom where the emperor has no clothes, it is best to keep your observations to yourself. That ancient fable applies equally to modern corporations, notwithstanding their claims to egalitarianism in the workplace.
That’s the clear message from the recent events at SpaceX where a bunch of employees were shown the door after they dared to protest against the shenanigans of their maverick boss Elon Musk. According to Bloomberg, in an open letter, the employees dubbed Musk’s behaviour and tweets “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment,” and called on SpaceX leadership to condemn and distance itself from Musk’s “personal brand.” The leadership’s response was predictable; with the company’s President Gwynne Shotwell dismissing the charges, and the employees, saying: “We have too much critical work to accomplish and no need for this kind of overreaching activism.”
Ostensibly, the sacking was over the attempts by the selection of workers to rope in others to sign the letter as well.
For all his undeniable qualities as a creator and innovator, Musk’s public pronouncements mostly on Twitter, smack of an inflated sense of his role in the world and a desperate attempt at stroking his giant-sized ego. From sexual innuendoes to downright rudeness, Musk has used Twitter, a company which he is in the process of buying/not buying, to revile and insult other public figures. With each successive tweet, he has plumbed new depths. Perhaps the lowest point came in his exchange with the 80-year old Bernie Sanders after the veteran US senator demanded that the wealthy pay their “fair share” of taxes. Musk’s response: “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive.” There are many others you could choose from including those that were downright sexist and misogynist.
Nor have these been without any consequences for the companies he runs.
Last November a tweet about a potential business deal between Tesla and Hertz led to a 4 percent drop in the company’s stock price. His infamous Twitter poll asking voters if he should sell 10 percent of his stake in the EV company led to another precipitous fall in its stock price. On May 1, 2020, Musk tweeted "Tesla stock price is too high". Investors took the cue, with the result that $14 billion was wiped off the company's value. An earlier tweet about taking Tesla private led to a lawsuit from the SEC. In April that year he tweeted "FREE AMERICA NOW" with reference to the calls for a lockdown in the face of the growing Covid 19 threat. It wasn’t just an irresponsible remark but also defied the rising numbers. It has been a consistent pattern of serial offending by the world’s richest man.
In the letter that the SpaceX leadership found offensive, employees were reported by Verge and other outlets as having said: “Every Tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company.” If those statements end up hurting the companies concerned, Musk is guilty both as a leader and as a significant shareholder.
But then Musk belongs to the new breed of leaders who believe that they shouldn’t be held to the same standards of behaviour as ordinary people are. After all their accomplishments and their earnings, entitle them to a different set of rules.
In April 2020, Donald Trump, a man with whom Musk has had an on and off relationship but whose policies he certainly favoured him, said he would be uncomfortable wearing a mask as he met with "presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens". He added "somehow I don’t see it for myself." That was Trump as president of a country which registered the highest number of deaths from the pandemic.
No matter how many articles and weighty columns appear in influential management journals commanding companies to listen to their employees, the inescapable conclusion from the swift termination of those at SpaceX that dared to speak out against Musk is that when it comes to thin-skinned leaders, employees are better off playing cheerleaders.
It is a lesson that employees in Indian companies have known all along. The boss is always right, even when she/he is wrong.
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