CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – Imagine this situation.
At work, you are a long-standing and highly respected employee. You’ve been there forever. Co-workers know you’re doing a good job.
One day, management hires a new department head. They will be your new boss.
And at the first meeting where the boss is set to introduce themselves, you stand up and say to them. “You’re unqualified. Your presence here will make our work more difficult. I don’t respect you.”
The new boss would have no choice but to fire you. Immediately. They have no chance of success if such insubordination is tolerated. Even if you are the absolute best at what you do, no one is so valuable that they can be insubordinate.
That’s what happened during a staff meeting at 60 Minutes last week.
The program has a new producer, Nick Bilton. His background is in technology reporting. He’s now in charge of the most-watched TV news program in the country. CBS also fired two correspondents, Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi. I know, you’ve never heard of them. That’s precisely why they’re replaceable.
Scott Pelley, the best-known correspondent at 60 Minutes, reportedly confronted Bilton in an all-staff meeting. Pelley told Bilton that he “would never be welcome here.” And that upper management was trying to “kill the broadcast.” The assembled staff responded with applause.
There is no boss, anywhere, who can run anything under such circumstances.
Pelley, although he is a “name” and the news business and has likely become independently wealthy from his success in his career, is still an employee. His comments were both insubordinate and unprofessional. That’s why he is soon to be an ex-employee.
Chris Conley
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