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April 20, 2006

How to Clean (Someone Else's) House

It's sort of an old story being rehashed today -- new regime in power, folks are let go, replaced by loyal followers of the new leader. But there is a difference to this story: The departure of White House press secretary Scott McClellan represents the leaving of an old guard of the current boss, George W., to be replaced by followers of a new leader, White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, who reports to the big boss. The newcomers will surely have an allegiance to Bolten, but it is less sure that they will have the allegiance to Bush that his own appointees had.

The potential for this kind of situation happens in companies every day. New mid-level executives come in and have their own ideas for how they want to run their group and who they want to have in it. Often, those brought in by the boss are safe, but not this week at the White House.

In your company, how have you experienced or handled a newcomer's shakeup?

Posted by Laura Rich at April 20, 2006 5:56 PM | Category: human resources | 2 Comments

2 COMMENTS

Posted by: Frank at April 21, 2006 4:29 PM: So true. Since Andy Card left it's been difficult to shuffle without a full deck. Now they tossed out one joker and re labeled an Ace. Just hope the glue dries before congress comes back from their break.
Posted by: dennis crow at April 22, 2006 12:14 PM: These days, White House behavior doesn't come under the purview of human behaviorists; only ethologists are familiar with the behavior patterns.