
181LAW #5: REWARD THE MESSENGER
UNINTENTIONAL RETRIBUTION
Not as insidious, but just as potentially damaging, is the inadvertent
‘‘killing’’ of messengers. It’s like Mr. Magoo driving down the wrong
side of the street, happily going on his way while leaving accidents
strewn behind him. Here are some examples.
Verbal Punishment
Kevin is the aggressive, Type A CEO of an insurance company with
whom we did some work. In a meeting with his executive team, he
discussed the implementation of a training program we were going
to provide to the company’s managers. We had suggested to Kevin
that he be involved in each of the sessions in order to show his
support