DW's Boss' Dementia

[aja8888]

I have a close friend that is exhibiting the same symptoms, especially the short term memory issues. He's not responding well to family (and friends) when they try to help him address the issue. He is also clinically depressed. At least he is not in a work situation.

[Totoro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG splitwdw has a very valid point. It's really hard to prove, I'd report it on a confidential basis to HR. Then it's not my problem, only bad things can happen to the person that talks with the CEO about this.

Issues that demonstrably harm clients or put a company at serious risk caused by your direct supervisor need to be escalated to the next level.

Bad things will happen if you are disloyal, unprofessional or gossippy. In this case though you are showing courage and concern for the company's well being.

Maybe I have too little experience, but I never have seen shooting the messenger behavior by competent CEOs. We're not talking about mediocre middle management in some megacorps. And if the CEO is incompetent, why are you working there?

[target2019]

Time for an anonymous note to HR or above. Good luck.

[pb4uski]

Does this business have a compliance department or general counsel? If so, that might be a place to start... more in a line of "boss has become very forgetful (cite examples) and it may impact on the business and regulatory compliance but we need help/advice on how to proceed". If they don't have anything like that then it sounds like the only alternative is to request a discreet, confidential discussion with the CEO. I would avoid using the word dementia since your wife and others are not qualified to make a diagnosis but rather talk to symptoms and have plenty of documented examples available.

From what you wrote it sounds like others are concerned too. IF that is the case it would have more credibility if it was the joint effort of a small group of senior, key brokers who share your wife's concerns and they all need to be cognizant of the risk that it could backfire. I think it best to try to work within the company... if the company fails to act and they still fell strongly about it then they could later report it to regulators but the backfire risk is much higher at that point.

[tmm99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG splitwdw has a very valid point. It's really hard to prove, I'd report it on a confidential basis to HR. Then it's not my problem, only bad things can happen to the person that talks with the CEO about this.

I don't think you would have to use the word "dementia". You could just list up the facts and the CEO (or HR or whoever) can draw their own conclusions. I would think whatever this person is exhibiting is a liability in the eyes of the company, so it needs to be reported, but as others said, in a manner that cannot be construed as a mere gossip (by documenting specific incidents with dates, which is backed hopefully by some evidence), but I would do this in a hurry before this person does something that cannot be easily rectified.