How do leaders feel about axing followers?
When it becomes necessary to bring down the axe, how did eminent leaders feel? An extreme and bizarre example is that of Al Chainsaw Dunlap, the epitome of management by intimidation, and author of Mean Business. He wreaked havoc at both Sunbeam and Scott. He apparently took pleasure in inflicting pain on his followers, and left a trail of destruction in the state of the business and the psyche of his followers after massive layoffs in the name of increasing shareholder value. Fortunately, not all leaders are as heartless as Al Dunlap. Margaret Thatcher describes her reshuffle of the Cabinet in 1985:[7] I hated sacking ministers and I could not prevent myself thinking what it meant to them and their families, suddenly losing salary, car and prestige. I used to like to feel that they would have the long summer recess in office before coming in September to learn the bad news. The trouble was that the press would then spend the whole of that period speculating on who was to stay and who
