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Nice Suit. Would a Snake Wear Such a Nice Suit?
7
tails of the Pit Bull’s termination. As staff from different departments
mingled, those who had heard only some of the rumors sought
out more information; others wanted confirmation of the details they
had heard. It was great fun to collect different bits and pieces of the
story and try to assemble a picture of what had really happened.
Six months into Gus’s tenure, all hell broke loose. For the
first time in its long history, Bailey’s division had failed to meet
its targets, so much so that the market analysts were starting to
make unflattering comments, endangering the reputation of the
whole corporation. Making things worse, there was also the risk
of a hefty, very public, and humiliating fine for noncompliance
on some government work—a fact that had not reached the
newspapers yet, but was sure to make headlines if not averted
quickly. Bailey felt that Gus ought to be let go, and offered to
run the place until a suitable, better-qualified candidate could
be found. The corporate executive committee disagreed. In an
effort to help Gus and be fair to him in his new role, they decided
to create a new director of operations position reporting to
him.
One person who caught their attention as the perfect internal
candidate for the job was Helen. Helen had joined one of
the other acquisitions only a year before and rose to stardom
overnight. Her performance review praised her spirit, diligence,
focus, energy, and natural ability. She demonstrated her worth
to her management, building a reputation for making things
happen, for successful project management, and for meeting
deadlines. Admittedly, some collateral damage occurred along
the way, but that did not seem to concern her management
team, who put her on the key management watch list. Yet, despite
the glowing reviews from her management, her division
was expanding its head count and underperforming, all the
while requesting and receiving approval for larger budgets two
years in a row. Bailey wondered how the corporate folks could