Operational instability
Temporary executive review.
And so on.
Every accusation dressed up in enough corporate language to sound responsible instead of personal.
My father folds his hands on the table. “As acting chairman, I have a responsibility to this company and its shareholders. Recent behavior has raised legitimate concerns regarding executive reliability.”
Executive reliability.
Interesting phrase for a man who hasn’t missed a quarterly target in seven years.
I lean back slightly in my chair. “You called an emergency board meeting because I took a few weeks off?”
A board member near the end clears his throat uncomfortably.
Wolfgang doesn’t blink.
“You left New York without properly informing key leadership teams,” he says. “Several negotiations stalled. Investors have begun asking questions. I propose we remove Maximus Luca Bauer as the CEO of Alder Haus until such time as he marries.”
That almost earns a smile from me. “Which investors are we talking about?”
There’s a minute change in my father’s expression, and I almost miss it. I’ll address his veiled threat later.
“Burke, Levinson, Steel. I’ve talked to them over the past few days trying to make sure we don’t lose their interest.”
I open my briefcase and take out my laptop, connecting it to the screen. The PowerPoint presentation I’d worked on for several hours is a little out of order, but I scroll through to show a screenshot of an email Steel sent me last night after I’d contacted them.
“Couldn’t be happier with the growth we’re seeing from Alder Haus. We have full confidence in their management and their processes.”
I click to the next screen. “Levinson says, ‘Alder Haus is my preferred company to do business with. Working with Maximus Bauer and his incredible team puts other companies to shame.”
“How do we know these aren’t doctored?” Vern, my father’s best friend asks from the other end of the table.
“I’ve already forwarded them to each of your emails.” I glance around the room. “What other issues do we need to discuss?”
“Process of opening the newer stores was stalled,” my father says, flipping through something on his phone.
Charlie sent me the reports this morning, so I split the stack of papers I have and sent them down each side of the table. I also have them displayed on the projector screen. “You’ll see that we’ve run the newest reports here. Our stock has gone up three percent this week. You’ll also notice in this little graph here that there was no landslide or huge upswing during my absence. The company is stable and growing at a steady rate.”
A subtle shift moves through the room.
Wolfgang notices it immediately.
“Our concerns extend beyond quarterly numbers.”
“Do they?” I ask. “Because profits are usually the first thing people mention when leadership actually becomes unstable.”
A few eyes drop toward the reports in front of them.
