Daily Lesson from Life 24 September 2008

"Sacked Indian workers beat their boss to death
The company had sacked more than 100 workers three months ago. -Wed, Sep 24, 2008 AFP

NEW DELHI -- Sacked workers in India beat to death the local boss of an Italian company that had laid them off, police said Tuesday. Scores of former employees at car parts maker Graziano Transmissioni attacked chief executive Lalit Kishore Chaudhary, 47, when a meeting on Monday to discuss a long-running labor dispute turned violent, police said.

"Twenty-three people are still in hospital," superintendent of police Babu Ram said. Police said the company sacked more than 100 workers three months ago but arranged the meeting to work out a possible reinstatement deal."


A grim read indeed. CEO beaten to death by sacked workers while in meeting negotiating a reinstatement deal. What could have triggered the extreme violence by the 100 workers to beat the CEO to death? Unfortunately the news report did not dwelt into the details.

Lessons learned for me are:

1. to be a CEO is not easy. It can be dangerous too depending on which country you worked in and what is the macro environmental factors like!

2. what triggered the violence that resulted in death? Must be pretty serious allegation and a very bad dialogue for the issues you want to resolve. Listening with empathy skill will be useful as it helps to calm the agitated workers before entering into the proper reinstatement discussion with the aim of solving the challenges!

3. the CEOs in the USA giant financial institutions suffered a different fate from these Indian CEOs in that the US CEOs get the higher bonus, even for selling the distressed bank or company that they had a hand in bringing down on their knees! If this non-accountability continued, the reputation and credibility of US management and leadership will definitely in-plore. People, at least some, will no longer trust the Wall Street! i.e. once beaten twice shy!

I hope the Congress will approve the US$700B of rescue package and that the terms and conditions must include protectors of the Moto Way!! i.e. taxpayers become investors into those 'fire sale companies' and get a windfall if thetight credit remained tight.