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Suppose you are David Letterman's boss, how should you deal with the fallout associated with the disclosure of intimate issues?

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3 Answers

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I've found that, contrary to the popular wisdom, people who aren't honest in their private lives are invariably dishonest in their public lives. If a person will lie to their life partner, do you really think they'll be honest with you?

In Letterman's specific case, he is the product (and the owner of the company). I don't think his behavior has materially affected his ratings; I'd bet it has hurt his promotion/advertising business. And, his wife is going to take a large bit out of his assets in the divorce.

If I ran a business and had an employee in a supervisory or management position that engaged in the same behavior (having affairs with multiple subordinate co-workers), I'd terminate him. Not for reasons of morality, but for reasons of trust.

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OK, that should work. What if its harder than that? I'm not talking about the TV show, and his specific case. – Andy Holly Nov 27 at 23:38
Why is it harder than that? I find that most challenges in life are simple, but not easy. In other words, it's easy to know what to do but hard to do it. Hard, in the sense that it will involve stepping beyond our comfort zone. As a business owner and as a manager in the high tech industry, I've had to fire a few people. I don't like it. But it's far better for the employee, far better for company morale, and far easier if you just pull the trigger. Everyone I've fired has known why they've been fired, hasn't been surprised by it, and the act of firing clears the air like a thunderclap. – John Cliford Nov 28 at 8:18
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You should call your lawyer immediately. Office relationships are complicated, especially because its difficult to determine the difference between a romantic situation and an improper one.

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The most liberal of bosses would say "don't let it affect your work and it shouldn't matter". But in the case of what happened to Letterman, you are dealing with a firestorm of opinions from advertisers and the public opinions of people who have no right to comment but do anyway. What's the saying "Ignore the elephant in the room".

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