Who’s Minding the C Suite?
How unethical leadership teams can ruin a company overnight.
On February 29, 2024, The Chemours Company placed its CEO, CFO, and other key personnel on administrative leave pending an internal review of alleged ethics violations. The company is in a free fall; stock prices plummeted 35% in one day (1).
This news did not come out of nowhere. Two weeks prior, Chemours failed to release its quarterly earnings report as scheduled.
An interim CEO and CFO from the Chemours ranks have been appointed to maintain operations and steady the ship while investigations begin.
Chemours was preparing to report massive losses due to litigation from PFAS, or forever chemicals, a legacy chemistry from the early days of its DuPont parent.
So…what would you do if you woke up one morning to read news like this about the company you work for? Shocking, isn’t it! Or is it, based on the current economic, political, and social climate.
There’s always been a certain degree of respect afforded to company leadership, particularly the C suite. Admired or disliked, perhaps, but prevailing wisdom is that the best possible candidates are selected by their supervisory boards to run these companies, deliver growth, and comply with all legal, environmental, social and governance regulations.
Have you’ve ever been asked to make a presentation to the C suite, about your business, for example? If so, then a bit of fear naturally sets in. Slides are drafted and updated over and over until your messaging is concise and readily understandable. You practice and prepare answers to various questions you are bound to field. Some will be surprises, but you feel confident enough to proceed.
But now what? What is the preparation for if you are presenting to a group of compromised leaders? Are they even listening to what you have to say? If this conduct has been exposed at Chemours, what’s not to say that your audience is similarly flawed?
Over the course of your career, surely you have worked with, or heard about, a colleague that made unfortunate choices, violating company ethics regulations or worse. Everybody knows someone who was embarrassed, punished, fired, or even arrested. There’s always someone. But now we have several C suite officers allegedly felled by corruption.
This news opens a Pandora’s box of topics. Is your C suite comprised of the best people for the job, or are they part of a buddy culture? I’ve witnessed the gamut, from highly professional executives in action, others with divergent agendas, to cliques of clowns. However, unethical behavior is not a function of competence; anyone can fall from grace.
The Chemours news certainly puts everyone in the workforce on notice. Suspicion and doubt are not the new normal - please discard the tin foil hats, people. However, be mindful to align with colleagues of the highest ethical and moral standards, whatever level you are in the company. Look in the mirror too, because this applies to you as well. If Chemours can’t remedy its rot from the top, then it may be best to work or do business elsewhere. Well-run companies led by strong teams represent the vast majority of industry, so make sure you belong to one, or keep looking until you find one.