Abuse in the Board Room II

I have received a follow-up letter to one of my columns from early last year. It reads: Dear Chauncey, Sorry to bother you again about this, but we are still having a problem. I don’t know if you remember my letter. I sent it nearly a year ago. It was about a board member who was repeatedly being abusive toward one of our loyal employees. Just the other week the board member was once again repeatedly being very difficult with that same employee. It was so bad that some of the other board members really lost their patience with him. One of them reached her limit and said "Just what do you want?" Another had to pointedly ask why the board member had not volunteered to do committee work; work that would have given the board member a chance to "fix" whatever it was he was complaining about (we still don’t know what his problem was). I just don’t think it is right to have this board member continuing to be so difficult with this employee. Still Dismayed and Disgusted ——————- Dear Still Dismayed and Disgusted, I remember your letter well. For those readers who missed your original letter, here is a link to that column. Your fellow board members took the correct approach. They pointed out how out-of-line the board member was. You are right to be concerned about his repeated inappropriate conduct. Your employee must dread any meeting that involves this cad. That is part of what makes this kind of behavior so damaging where there is unequal power in the relationship. Since this seems to be a continuing problem, you may need to be more direct than mentioned in my prior column. You should take him aside and note that everyone has areas of talent but not everyone is suited for the responsibilities of board membership. If he does not take the hint, you need to tell him he should resign. Should he be unwilling to resign the only alternative is for your shareholders to remove him from the board at the earliest possible moment. Your employees deserve no less. Hoping things improve soon, Chauncey