Taming managers who are corporate animals

Question:

I work for a company that started operations a decade ago and has become very successful. Although much of that success is due to the hard-working employees, the CEO usually takes all the credit.

He is very over-bearing and last month he even fired a well performing colleague who he perceives to be his competitor.  This has become a trend as he fires everyone who is a “threat”. After the latest incident , I was promoted to the position that fell vacant after a colleague who was also my friend left.

I now feel very frustrated because I have to keep pandering to his ego otherwise I will be fired like the others.

How can I let him know he’s becoming to problematic to work with?  Shall I tell the board?  Or do I get a new job?

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A number of CEOs of profitable companies in Nairobi will look at your question and think you are talking about them.

The typical CEO of a medium to large company such as yours is a relatively young, self-driven, ambitious, intelligent person who has had a distinguished career in business and for whom, the sky is the limit.

Many such people would have been at the very top of their class, right from primary school, would have scored very high marks in high school and university and would in most cases have been the subjects of admiration by both their teachers and the girls or boys. These are the best performers from an early age.

Their school report cards would have comments that would suggest a level of impatience, intolerant to fools, and boredom with routine.

Such persons would be in constant search of stimulation, would have burnt the energy in heavy partying while at university, rugby, football or simply large collections of girls, who would have characterised a landscape of broken hearts.

In social settings, say weddings, birthday parties or even in a restaurant, their eyes attention and focus would wonder from person to person, their conversations would change a great deal, and their spouses or girlfriends would frequently complain about the person not paying attention to what she is saying.

Every little movement would become his focus.

I have seen such men gaze at every passing person in a restaurant.

Nowadays, such men will have a BlackBerry or two, and even at Valentine’s dinner, the texting and phone calls would not stop.