What happens when someone in a leadership position is fired?

This is click bait: “Kristi Noem’s firing leaked in a now-deleted tweet.”

I clicked it. Alas, it was a bait and switch. 

Instead, I learned way more than I wanted to know about politicians’ s*x lives.

But that part about leaking that someone is about to get fired, though... 

If you’ve ever been part of the team managing a high-profile exit, stories like this make your blood run cold. 

In situations like this... 

...when a high-profile person is already underperforming 

...and they finally f*ck up enough that the company can make The Move,

...you CANNOT let it leak.

The strike has to be as precise as a Delta Force attack in the dead of night.

Loose lips sink ships.

One does not simply fire someone in a position of leadership.

✍️ It needs legal sign-off to make sure there isn't a high-profile lawsuit that puts all the dirty laundry into the public record.

🤐 You need a bulletproof NDA and enough hush money ~ I mean “severance” ~ to make sure they stay quiet.

🥸 You need to make sure that someone is ready to seamlessly step in and take over their responsibilities.

📣 You need to have all of the comms prepared ahead of time.

📦 And everyone needs to be at their stations to cut off accounts and walk them out of the building on cue.

All without letting on what’s happening.

Act natural.

Go to meetings.

Pretend like this project will still be happening next month.

Make sure no one can see your screen.

Act surprised when people ask questions.

Draft the comms in a different platform.

And for the love of god, make sure that you don’t hit “send” by accident.

Even if you're not on the Delta Force team, you can still recognize the signs if you've done enough of these extractions.

Out of respect for the process, you keep your suspicions to yourself.

I don't want to interfere, so I'll respect the omertà. 

But if I were Kristi Noem, I’d be updating my resume and scheduling catch-ups with old colleagues. 

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Has your team flubbed a sensitive exit? Are you looking for ways to operationalize your offboarding so you can save people's dignity and avoid embarrassing mistakes?

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