“Robert will never forgive you,” Susan said, reluctantly bringing up Nano’s CEO, his fierce commitment to his new technology, and his ultimate faith and future plans for Vance.
“Maybe not,” Vance replied. “Maybe it will destroy my career and my relationship with Robert. But he’s a father, too. I have to hope that, on some level, he’ll understand. If not, it won’t change my decision.”
“Thank you for that.” Susan knew how much that statement cost her husband. But all she could think about was Lauren.
She turned away, dashing tears off her cheeks. “In the meantime, I’m doing absolutely nothing but losing my mind. I can’t concentrate. I can barely go through the motions of skiing and snowboarding. And I’m only doing that much for our other children.”
“That’s a big something. You’re holding down the emotional fort.”
“For now,” Susan responded. “Jessica and Andrew aren’t stupid. They’re both picking up on my tension—and yours. I’ve implied that you and I are going through a rough patch. That certainly upsets them, but it’s the only explanation I can give them without divulging the truth. Still, they’re puzzled by the fact that Lauren isn’t answering their texts, other than in cryptic snatches. How much longer do you think it’s going to be before they put two and two together?”
“Not long,” Vance said grimly. “We’ll keep them out of the loop as long as we can. But I will discuss this with Aidan. We might have to tell the kids about their sister. They’re adults. If they realize what’s at stake, they’ll stick to the script. But I don’t want to do anything without running it by Aidan first. I might be a control freak, but I’m not an idiot. When I turned this over to Aidan and his team, I said I’d let them take the lead. I intend to do that.”
He zipped up his laptop case and slung it over his shoulder, walking over to give Susan a quick kiss on her forehead. “I’ll fly back right after I meet with Simone and give her center stage with my team.”
“Find out as much as you can about Aidan’s overseas efforts. Please, Vance.”
“Count on it.”
NanoUSA main conference room
26 February
Monday, 9:45 a.m. local time
Standing beside Vance at the podium, Simone scanned the cavernous room.
There were over a hundred very anxious people—executives, area managers, and workers—staring back at her as Vance outlined her credentials and explained what her role at Nano would be.
At the word McKinsey, the tension swelled to fill the room.
Simone got it. The employees were being told: “We’re going to make this division even stronger and more efficient.” But what they were hearing was: “Some of us are about to get fired.”
She and Vance had discussed this prior to the meeting. Simone’s advice to him was that he had to be the one who put his team’s minds at ease. They needed to hear it from their boss, not some hired consultant. However, first they needed to know what this was all about. They needed Simone’s direction regarding what was about to happen and what their roles would be. It was up to her to win them over and to make them think of her as an ally and not an enemy.
To that end, she’d chosen her outfit carefully. A deep navy Theory blazer with a standing collar and open front, over a matching woolblend sheath dress that fell to just above her knee. Expensive but not intimidating. And the use of navy was no accident either. Blue was the color of loyalty and would inspire trust from her audience. And navy added just the level of professionalism and competence she wanted. Lastly, to compensate for her petite height, Simone had worn matching three-inch navy Tory Burch suede stiletto pumps.
The total effect would help her cause.
Smiling, she took the mike from Vance, thanked him for his introduction, and stepped up to the podium.
“I’m very pleased to have been invited to work with all of you to make NanoUSA even stronger than it already is,” she said. Calming words chosen to inspire team spirit. Given the short time frame she had, she had to go for pointed words and a soothing presence to accomplish her goal.
“I know you’re all very busy, so I’ll start right out by sharing some results we’ve achieved for other clients. Simultaneously, I’ll explain the process we’ll follow, and after that, I’ll be happy t
o answer any questions you may have.”
With that, Simone dimmed the lights and switched to the first content slide in her presentation.
The slide appeared with a collage of word balloons emanating from a crowd of people in silhouette. Productivity is up 20%, the first balloon read. Employee satisfaction is through the roof, stated the second. The third balloon announced: Gross margins are higher than ever.
Simone read each one aloud in her lightly accented English. She then paused to mentally and physically assess the room. The vibes were mixed, and the tenor of the room was still clouded in suspicion. Given that, she made a tactical decision not to show the video testimonials behind each balloon.
Instead, she went straight to the methodology, a topic she hoped would divert their attention to something other than losing their jobs. She launched into describing End Products Value Analysis and the high-level concepts behind this diagnostic tool that would isolate inefficiencies in each area. Across the top of the page, she listed key deliverables in green, some in yellow, and others in red. She talked about how employees would be asked to list key end products/deliverables that they worked on and how much time they spent doing so. Other departments, executives, even outside companies—would be asked what they valued.
The obvious question raised by this value analysis was whether an area could stop doing a red item, saving those resources and redeploying them somewhere else.
“As you know,” Simone continued, “your department has struggled to keep up with the demands placed upon it. Mr. Pennington has asked me to make sure that we are using our resources wisely before bringing anyone else on board.” Her glance swept the room. “Questions?”