Your CEO gives you the ick. Now what?

Emily, the Chief Revenue Officer at a global financial services company, learned something about her CEO she cannot unknow. She recently discovered that her CEO is having an affair. The relationship appears private and consensual. It does not violate company policy. She knows his spouse well; their children play on the same basketball team, and his spouse coaches it. The proximity is unavoidable. On Monday morning, she listens as he outlines priorities for the quarter. The strategy is sound. The numbers are holding. But she hears him differently now. This is the same CEO who regularly speaks about integrity and trust. As he reinforces the company’s values, Emily feels a quiet but persistent dissonance. When she considers recruiting senior talent or standing before her sales and marketing organization to reinforce those same values, she hesitates. Nothing in the strategy has changed. But her willingness to attach her credibility to it has. Research shows that when employees perceive a d