Tag: Bosses

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Just Your Average Opportunistic Boss


220px-Terminator1984movieposter Who can resist this?  The Governator has cheated and lied?  Noooo, you are kidding!!! I am sure millions of bloggers hit the keyboards running.

But wait a minute, I already wrote about this – just little over four months ago: CFO Folklore: When Your Boss's Secretary Becomes His Girlfriend.  Well, not about Arnie per se, but about bosses having affairs with their employees. 

Obviously, it was based on incidents I have witnessed in business, as a financial professional.  I wrote the piece from the inside perspective of frustrated CFOs and Controllers, who are forced to deal with that.  Yet, I used very generalized terms, because it is the most typical type of infidelity. 

I don't think I have to remind you about all political scandals with exactly the same premise.  I never thought that the only reason these incidents ignited public attention was people's relishing the dirt.  It is the relevance of these situations to every-day life that attracts people: "Oh, he is just like that dick I work for."  As the matter of fact, that January post is the third most popular item on this Blog – people relate.

There is always an enterprising (rarely smitten) young and ambitions intern/staffer/secretary/page (she or he) in the office of a powerful older man, who,  driven by desire to excel in life without too much effort, will pursue the boss with all her (his) youthful enthusiasm.  And of course, the older person is weakened: his male nature already has a propensity for imprudence; his morals are corrupted by power; he is ridden with temptation to taste something 20-25 years younger…  "What a poor man to do?"

As the matter of fact, small business owners have it better than more powerful public figures like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bill Clinton.  The latter risk public humiliation and popularity votes; the former have almost nothing to fear in their little absolute monarchies.  

The truth is, I liked Mr. Schwarzenegger up until he went into politics.  I admired his drive to rise above his muscles.  He actually always seemed liked a pretty decent man to me – someone who, if he fell out of love, would just come clean, divorce her and then go on making babies with another woman.  I should have known that as soon as "political reasoning" kicked in, lying would commence.  That they kept quiet, so he wouldn't loose his supporters – it's just disgusting.  

It is uncanny, but the former action star's news of an out-of-wedlock child, hit much closer to the real-life prototype of Boss and His Secretary story I wrote in January – I've just recently learned that the secretary in question is actually pregnant, while the boss is still legally married to his wife of twenty years.  

I would like to propose a little contest.  My readers, if you know of a single male business owner over 50 year old, with the staff of more than 20 people, who never had any indiscretions, please let me know.  I will sing praises to him in these virtual pages.

Donna Ballman’s Great Article on Workplace Rights


Those who visit my blog consistently probably remember my post The Distortion of Bill of Rights in Small Business and know that I frequently come back to the issues of an employee's freedoms and rights even in the pieces not related to to those topics directly.  I would like to draw the readers' attention to this great article by Donna Ballman written for AOL Jobs 10 Workplace Rights You Think You Have, But Don't. 

Ms. Ballman is an employment attorney, so unlike my insider's point of view, her perspective is independent and supported by legal expertise – really a must-read for everyone who confused their workplace for a democracy.

CFO Folklore: “The Servant of Two Masters”


440940251img1_mediumTwo-headed bosses are common when people work for businesses founded by relatives, which, I am sure, can be a source of fascinating undercurrents and rivalries.  I invite my readers to share relevant stories.

I, on the other hand, worked (more than once) for equal partners who were not related.  Each of the duos consisted of individuals so different, it was a miracle they stayed in business together.  As a CFO, forced into the middle of the co-owners dynamics, I was able to observe common behavioral tendencies in the bosses themselves and people around them.

Business partners' alliances are usually symbiotic.  One is an idea generator, the other is an implementer.  One is brains, the other is money.  One can close a deal in seconds, the other makes sure the company performs.  They always complement each other, or they wouldn't be in the trenches together. 

Either will squeeze all juices out of you, and yet their personalities differ just as much as their abilities.  One is usually more diplomatic, better with people, logical, frugal.  The other is brash, careless, erratic, a lavish spender.  They don't see eye to eye about the majority of business issues and frequently talk to their CFO or Controller separately, presenting contradictory positions.

260 years ago, in "The Servant of Two Masters," Carlo Goldoni depicted the delirium of working for two employers who try to find each other without knowing they live in the same hotel.  Sounds familiar?  Poor Truffaldino is so anxious, he develops a stutter.  Imagine the hilarity!  Well, at least he got double wages.  When your single-salary job depends on maneuvering two conflicting bosses, you don't feel like laughing. 

Most people end up aligning themselves with one of them.  Sometimes, it works out in a natural way: if one owner oversees Production, while another spearheads Sales and Marketing, it is obvious where VP of Ops and VP of Sales allegiances will lie.  

Even when it's not clear-cut, people have a tendency to navigate with their issues toward the boss who is perceived to be "nicer," regardless of his preparedness to make relevant decisions.  As the result, you may end up with a wrong solution, or the issue is brought to the other owner's attention anyway; only now he knows that you tried to bypass him.   Either way, you are screwed.

CFOs and Controllers should not form any alliances when they work for two partners.  When monetary matters are concerned, both must be kept in the loop.  In super-important cases, get them into the same room, whether they like it or not.  I am known for bringing bosses into the office from their summer residencies in the middle of July, when I had to.

Of course, you have to earn your right to do so with hard work and authoritative success.  You also need to be very diplomatic with both of them – either must think you prefer deal with him and inform the other out of courtesy.  It takes Machiavellian skills to boss the bosses.  Otherwise, you will end up stuttering, like poor Truffaldino.

The Frustrated CFO Is Looking for a Litigator to Defend an Employee – Part II


…Continued from previous post (published on June 30th)

Unfortunately, even with all this tremendous efforts, business continued to contract.  First of all, the economy was unraveling: the global credit crunch was at its peak  in 2009 and consumers did not have money to pay their debts.  Secondly, the new government regulations helped debtors not to pay and settle at a fraction of the value instead.  In this conditions the bosses decided to go on the other side of the business - to open a set of new companies operating in loan modification and debt restructuring sector.

They have approached MJ with this idea and promised her that she would continue to carry out all financial executive responsibilities in the new business as well.   While still taking care of the old business, she helped them to set up all new companies.  Of course, there were not enough capital to start it up at a full speed.  The two businessmen approached MJ and asked her for a  $150,000 120 days personal loan to help the new business to catch a breath.

Dear readers, please don't judge my friend.  Let me tell you that MJ is one of the most brilliant people I've ever met.  She fully understood the risks.  However, it was clear to her that if she refused, they would have fired her right away: these are average entrepreneurs we frequently discuss – just like the rest of them, they let their emotions run their brains.  This was (and, as we know, still is) a very bad time to be an out-of-job CFO approaching 50.  It was also inconceivable  to think that these two people, whom she helped to survive, would cheat her out of her personal savings.  So, she landed the money to the new law firm. 

Ninety days later, one month before the loan was due for repayment, they fired her using an independent consultant, locked her out of the offices and built a Chinese Wall between themselves and her. 

Now, out of job and out of money, she tried to work with the attorney they appointed to deal with her on their behalf.  She was told that they could not repay her money in full on the agreed due date.  All kinds of unacceptable installment deals were suggested to her with various crazy conditions.  Of course, their lawyer employed all the tricks up her sleeve to drag the matter as long as she could – the delaying tactics were unmatchable.  And as soon as she agreed to one of their installment plans, the communications stopped altogether.  

Meanwhile, all the aggravation of her predicament and anxiety affected her health – she had an acute cardiac episode and ended up on a surgeon's table.  Her condition is managed by several medications now, but it was concluded by her doctors that she must not deal with this tragic matter directly.

So, MJ is looking for an attorney to represent her in order to get these amoral bastards to pay her back.  By the way, she has a multi-page list of misdeeds, violations, and frauds these people has committed against their business partners, clients, etc., etc. 

The most heartbreaking thing is that this woman has immigrated into the US as a political refugee 20 years ago with $90 in her pocket.  She has built herself up from ground zero only to be robbed of her hard-earned money and thrown out on the street by two ruthless monsters who still enjoy all of their businesses, multi-million dollar residences and summer houses in the Hamptons.

If any of my readers know an attorney who might be interested in this case, please email me at the.frustrated.cfo@gmail.com. 

Note: the law firm that borrowed the money has presence in PA, NJ and NY.

The Frustrated CFO Is Looking for a Litigator to Defend an Employee – Part I


Let me say right away that it is impossible to even come up with a short definition for an attorney who would act on behalf of an employee.  That is why I had to devise such an expository title for this post.  But I am trying to help my fellow financial professional and a good friend MJ who has a very unique and quite a complicated case against her former employer.  What happened to her is strikingly unfair (there are details below) and I figured I would try to put a word out there through my blog in hopes of may be receiving some legal referrals from my readers.   

It appears that 99% of the lawyers listed as "labor litigators" work for the other side (the one with the deeper pockets), defending corporations against employees in court and advising them on preventative measures to make sure that they don't get sued in the first place.  Of course, there are plenty of injury specialists ready to jump on a work-related-accident case and civil rights defenders on a lookout for sexual harassment claims.  But apparently it is difficult to find somebody to stand on the side of an employee with a less obvious case.

I am pretty confident that MJ's case is one of a kind combination of various legal matters and an intelligent attorney may find it to be an interesting challenge.  It would possibly require ten posts to cover all details, and I don't find it necessary or productive.   Instead, I will try to stick to main facts only and present them in two consecutive installments.

The employer in question was a consumer debt management entity, which consisted of multiple collection agencies with a national law firm at the head of the structure.  Two business partners helmed the operations – an attorney (senior partner at the law firm) and a shrewed businessman who handled all operational and commercial activities.  Remarkably they have managed to ride the wave of debt securitization and succeeded, in spite of themselves, without any executive support - growing into an organization that employed over 500 people in 10 states, while all their accounting and financial functions were "handled" by an outside service of a one-person CPA firm!!!

By the end of 2007, though, the company started experiencing difficulties.  In the absence of budgets, cash flow projections, profitability analysis, and, more importantly, an insight of a seasoned expert, they couldn't even understand what was going wrong.

That was when MJ got hired as a Chief Financial Officer.  Putting all the necessary functions and instruments in place, dissecting the business's performance and fixing incorrectly kept books, allowed her to discover the weakest links in their falling apart system.  She suggested drastic restructuring, shut down the sectors that were bleeding money and got them out of disadvantageous financing relationships – in other words, saved their assess from going under several times over.

To be continued…