Read Online Trilemma by Jennifer Mortimer - Free Book Online

enthusiastic, optimistic. But he is only thirty and has limited experience in the rest of the business.”
    â€œYoung,” says Dao. Hobb grunts in agreement.
    â€œDeepak has extensive business experience, and an exceptional grasp on how best to deploy money. I’ve found his judgment to be very sound. I guess if he has any fault it’s that he’s not forceful enough.”
    â€œLacks confidence,” states Stanton.
    â€œHe is a very courteous man. Marion is—”
    â€œI don’t think we’re interested in Mrs. King,” he interjects. “A good woman, no doubt, but hardly of the stature we need to be chief executive.”
    â€œFred is an excellent IT manager,” I continue. “The best I’ve worked with. But I doubt if he’d be remotely interested in taking on the CEO role. He is just too
nice
.”
    â€œAnd Heke?” asks Lane.
    â€œTom is a very good operations manager,” I say. “He is confident, and he knows the technology very well.”
    â€œBut?” asks Robert.
    I pause before replying. “I don’t think he is very good at making tough decisions. I think he is out of his depth in any project that requires a major leap into something new.”
    â€œBut if he has Green for new ideas and Gupta for the financial analysis?” Lane asks.
    â€œAnd Lin to drive things along,” adds Robert.
    â€œDon’t get me wrong,” I add. “Tom is a terrific manager and for any organization in a more stable situation he would be an outstanding chief executive. But I don’t think he is the best candidate when the role requires stepping outside of standard practice and into the unknown.”
    The men fall silent.
    â€œWhat about that woman who used to run the local telco?” asks Stewart Hobb.
    â€œTania Gates? No,” says Stanton. His nose curls with disgust. “Too emotional.” He glances around the table. “I have several good candidates in mind. Men I know well.
    â€œLinnette, you can go now,” he says.
    â€œIt’s Linnet.”
    â€œWhatever.”
    Tom, Ian, and Deepak are hovering around my desk.
    â€œDid they say anything about who will replace Adam?”
    â€œI think they’re looking at some mate of Stanton’s,” I reply.
    â€œShit.”
    â€œBummer.”
    â€œBlast.”
    â€œYeah.”
    When the Board breaks for tea, Robert says he wants some fresh air and tells me to join him. We walk across to the civic center and find a coffee bar.
    â€œWhat did you decide?” I ask.
    â€œWe haven’t,” he says. “Stanton’s mates will take too long to come on board. We can’t afford to be without a CEO for two months or more. It is too critical a period.”
    â€œI guess you could appoint someone to act in the meantime.”
    â€œWe could.”
    â€œWho? Tom?”
    â€œMaybe. He’s offered to step in. Do you think he could handle things for a couple of months?”
    â€œPerhaps.”
    Inwardly, I wince as I think about Tom’s conservative approach. And then I let myself think about how it might feel to be the chief executive of Hera. Being a chief executive wasn’t something I’d ever considered. Oh, of course, you dream you might climb that high, but so few do that it’s not an ambition I’d ever dwelled on. And yet, and yet, why not?
    I
could make the decisions I knew had to be made.
I
could lead the way I thought a leader should lead.
    Did I know enough?
But the rest of the team was strong. Anything I didn’t know was well covered by Deepak, Fred, Ian, Marion, and Tom. We were a perfect team.
    Tom! How could I do this to him?
He had the best right to this job. And yet I knew, I knew he could not bring Hera to the launch date as well as I. I knew he could not achieve as much with our few resources as I.
    Sometimes there’s a time and tide in your life that waits for no man. Or