There was an article called Approach Boss With Caution in The New York Times yesterday. It is about the CEO of Mesa Airlines. Check out the whole thing, but these things make me wonder. How do people get away with this kind of thing? Even if he is effective at running the airline, I have no idea why people put up with such abuse. The article suggests that he does have other charms -- but in my book, being around people like this not only isn't worth the trouble, people who put-up with his nonsense are enabling -- even encouraging -- his abusive behavior to persist.
Here is just one quote little part -- Check out Frank's comment on my last post and of course the article:
Stacy Heath, employee relations and events manager at Mesa, was until recently Mr. Ornstein’s administrative assistant. Her tasks included tracking his mood and warning executives away from a meeting with the boss. “They would call and say, ‘Is he in a good mood?’ I used to laugh, but I do it now, too.”
Mr. Ornstein, who grew up in Scarsdale, N.Y. , said the high-decibel communication style he learned from his family was a healthy way to deal with conflict. “Being upset comes and goes in 10 minutes,” he said.
But upset seems to come more than it goes with Mr. Ornstein. Ms. Heath, who spent nearly six years as his gatekeeper, said: “Maybe 60 percent — maybe even higher than that — he was not in a good mood. Sometimes he would come in to the office in a bad mood in the morning and it would set the tone for the whole office.”
P.S. Frank, thanks for pointing this out!
Having frequently been disappointed with the quality of products that I have purchased that were imported from China, I think it is sweetly ironic that we are exporting Jonathan Ornstein -- America's low-quality, low-cost, bargain basement CEO -- to China to 'help' them set up a regional airline over there. This little disaster in the making is going to be a joy to watch! Let's just hope they don't send him back!
www.dontflygo.com
Posted by: dontflygo | May 06, 2007 at 04:02 PM
I worked at Mesa for over three years, and I don't miss it a bit. JO thought that my department (flight control) was completely unnecessary and mandated by the feds. Our turnover rate was astronomical and the product we delivered to the flight crews suffered as a result. Working at a larger carrier where they treat us as an important part of the operation makes me realize how bad things were there.
Posted by: Chuck | March 31, 2007 at 02:19 PM
This man is so cruel he will do things to hurt his employees, even if it is at the expense of the business. He has said multiple times he doesn't like pilots and he would replace flight attendants with a vending machine in the back. He's short changing maintence, cleanliness and comfort will soon come to an end though. He can keep lying to the board members, but eventually these planes will start to fall out of the sky. They are already being hailed as dangerous (maintenance is not properly done on them), dirty (they sport more than 100,000 bacteria per swab), and the lowest paid pilots, flight attendants, and baggage handlers while the top executives are receiving by FAR the highest salary/incentives. There is a website - Mesahub.com that tells all. Why isn't the media on this??
Posted by: Tormented Daily | February 23, 2007 at 10:39 PM
I left Mesa after a year and half. I slept like a baby for the first week after I quit. This man torments his Flight Crews in so many ways it isn't even funny.
Posted by: Ex-Mesa Flight Attendant | February 22, 2007 at 05:56 PM
The 1800 pilots at Mesa hate this man. Look for a strike later this year. People are leaving in droves for better companies.
Posted by: MesaPilot | February 22, 2007 at 11:41 AM
Such behaviors are often "blind spots"; even though those on the outside can readily see them, he may not; in fact, his blind spot is supported by his saying, "...the high-decibel communication style he learned from his family was a healthy way to deal with conflict." He may be in denial as manay are when it comes to blind spots. It's quite easy for others to "see" how his moods affect others albeit he cannot see it himself.
Curious how many of us manifest daily behaviors such as verbal abuse, bullying, sarcasm and gossiping "for the fun of it" or as "just kidding"...as see it as "OK"...perhaps blind spots that are the equivalent, in my perspective, of workplace violence.
And, vis-a-vis Ann Michael's comment, how many of us get on these groupie bandwagons to "fit in", be part of the crowd, even though we engage in such "abusive behaviors...sometimes even more devastating to others than being in a bad mood?
Posted by: peter vajda | January 21, 2007 at 11:42 AM
The sad fact is that you can get away with it if people let you - and they will for a very long time.
It seems as though once someone achieves a certain level in the corporate hierarchy they develop a following - "groupies". These groupies seem to revolve their careers around worring about the leader and his/her actions, moods, signals, etc.
Sure we all want to be aware of the moods of others, but the groupies take it too far and feed, what is often, an already over developed sense of self worth!
Posted by: ann michael | January 21, 2007 at 09:37 AM
As a strictly practical matter, why would this guy want to continue to act this way. He's increasing the negative stress levels of everybody around him, which is not good for creativity and productivity. He's got folks more focused on his mood than they are on performance. And he's probably setting himself up to miss important information because people will be afraid to tell him. I'm reminded of those stories about how Stalin didn't hear about the German invasion for two weeks because no one wanted to tell him.
I'm sure the rudeness will flow downstream, too. That leads to the question: "How can you build a company with long term competitive advantage and profitability if you acti this way?"
Posted by: Wally Bock | January 21, 2007 at 08:25 AM