I read it in the news a couple of days ago. HP has ousted its CEO after an investigation of a sexual harassment complaint found that he had falsified expense reports and other documents to conceal a relationship with a contractor. (quoted from http://www.newsok.com) The article went on to say that he had also helped the woman get paid for work that she had not done. The board of directors at HP issued a statement indicating that they did not believe that it was in the best interest of the company to have this man leading anymore.
From what I have read, he has been instrumental over the past few years in reshaping the company. HP is now an industry leader because of this man’s leadership and vision. He has been good for the company. So good, in fact, he was in negotiations for a new contract worth 100 million dollars. He is good at what he does and was to be rewarded for it.
Now, because of poor personal choices, he has to settle for ¼ of what would have been his. I have no clue how much money he funneled to this contractor, but was it worth losing 75 million dollars? I read that he offered to pay for everything that went on. While that is good, at this point it doesn’t fix the flaw that caused the problem in the first place. The damage has been done.
The choices we make send ripples out into the world that we are a part of. Some of our choices seemingly cause little impact because of the sphere of influence that we find ourselves in, but we will not be able to find ourselves in a larger sphere of influence unless solid choices are made. This man is in an enormous sphere of influence. His choices ripple out like ocean waves crashing into everything they hit. When this news hit it caused the stock of HP to drop 10%. Not only did his choice affect his pocket book, it affected the pocket book of every investor of HP.
I make no attempt to judge what this man did or didn’t do. I do not have enough facts, nor am I fitted for that role. There may be very little wrong doing here. But, the appearance of wrong is all it takes sometimes. People have no problem making up the story line from a few random facts that are thrown together.
For my own life, it reminds me to be faithful in the small things. God forbid I find success one day and not have foundation to handle it. What are you doing to build your foundation for success? How do you respond when you read stories like this one?
David Willis 