I see it all the time as a recruiter, individuals who overstate their value to their current company. I deal with Vice Presidents of Marketing who think their company’s inventory would cease to move if they weren’t there to properly position them in the market place. I deal with sales executives who become prima donnas, walking the tight rope between necessary evil and expendable.
Charlie Sheen’s meltdown is no different in many ways. He was a top producing employee, a driver of a significant chunk of revenue, and a face of his organization. Over time, however, he began to lose focus, create negative press for his company, and then at the worst possible time, he became even more demanding.
His employer treated him no differently than most America companies handle their own high maintenance employees: they show them the door. Whatever your role, remember that to some degree you are expendable. In most cases, the company was successful before you, other people have thrived in a similar role, and there are often younger, cheaper people waiting to take your place.
If you look in the mirror and see Charlie Sheen staring back at you, it isn’t too late to salvage your position. The first thing you need to do is talk to your boss and let them know you appreciate your job and admit that you may have been a bit difficult to deal with in recent weeks(years). Secondly, offer to do something selfless for the team or the organization. Mentor a new employee, speak to the group about new technologies, give up your prime parking space for a week.
If Charlie Sheen walked into Chuck Lorre, the executive producer of Two and A Half Men’s office and apologized as Alec Baldwin recently suggested, he might turn things around. If he admitted the error of his ways, there is a chance he could salvage his job and the job of the other actors on the show. Similarly, if you are a corporate prima donna, it might not be too late for you either!
