What Others Should Learn from Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick’s Downfall and How Your Culture Can Bring You Down
This began with a major employee, Susan Fowler, going public about her harassment and sexual assault by her manager at Uber. It was a situation that first appeared to be unique to her and then turned into tsunami of complaints and extended into how HR handled Fowler’s accusations—or didn’t.
This wasn’t about a single individual. It escalated into a more profound upheaval at Uber with sexual assaults by drivers and engineers and a culture that has lost any focus on core values.
The turmoil even extended into the board meeting where Ariana Huffington was insulted by David Bonderman, who subsequently resigned from the board and apologized for his inappropriate remarks.
It doesn’t take much research to see that sexual harassment continues in workplace cultures.
- Last February Sterling Jewelers, “the parent company of Kay Jewelers and Jared the Galleria of Jewelry — were accused of creating a work environment in which sexual harassment and discrimination against women went nearly unchecked.”
- Fox News ouster of Bill O’Reilly, the exit of Roger Ailes and the $13MM to settle claims against O’Reilly show the depth of the sexual problems at the news.
- The boarding school Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn., “released a devastating report detailing nearly five decades of sexual abuse at the hands of a dozen teachers.”
A survey by Cosmopolitan of 2,235 part-time and full-time women employees revealed that 1 in 3 had experienced some form of sexual harassment at work. At a time when women represent 46% of the workforce in the U.S. how can you create a culture that prevents sexual harassment situations from undermining your business, and even your own leadership?
What should a CEO refocus on if he or she is going to lead a culture that does not allow this to occur?
1. It is not about what you say. It is about what you do. Kalanick created a very different brand of service that set it apart from others. It was a democratization of the taxi industry. It was built on values that were new, fresh and very exciting. Yet he allowed a culture of inequity, sexual harassment and abuse to flourish in his organization. He didn’t even know, he says, what was taking place.
a. What are you doing? Are you creating work teams where men and women listen to each other, respect their roles and watch those casual inappropriate jokes? Or do your employees have few mentors, no role models and simply do what they want to do – all that “guy” stuff.
2. Are you building a culture that reflects your public brand? Uber’s brand was a populist ethos built on the “aha” moment that Kalanick and his friends had when they could not get a cab. While he wanted customers to be able to get a cab when they wanted it and allow people who had cars to use them to make money through the sharing economy, their public persona was sizzle while their interior culture was faked.
a. Take a good look at what you say and what you do. Try to see your organization from the inside. Spend a day in the life of your employees. And listen closely. In the stories they share and the jokes they are telling each other you will hear what they value – and it will give you early signs of problems emerging. Don’t wait.
3. Are you admired by your employees and your customers? Uber was the hero brand. They were turning upside down an industry that was stuck in the past. Their mission was to rescue people from this long history of “injustice.” It was battling for the betterment of everyone. Except it was not. They were really not heroes but rogues. Internally they would victimize their employees, not save them.
a. How about you? What is your mission? Are you living it? Or is it just a façade for people to do what they wish under the guise of changing the world—or at least those of your clients or customers?
This is a great moment to change. Don’t let your culture take you down.
