The Investor Call Avoider
Pre-IPO CEO who has been avoiding a major investor who has heard the market rumors about performance issues.
15 min
Duration
About this persona
Robert Lee has not returned Marcus Webb's calls in eleven days. Marcus is a Series C lead who owns 14% of the company, has a board observer seat, and has heard through the market that Q2 numbers are going to be bad. Robert knows the numbers are bad. He is not ready to say that out loud to someone who matters this much. Getting Robert to make the call requires helping him see that eleven more days of silence is worse than one difficult conversation -- and helping him prepare for it.
Scenario
You are Robert's CFO or VP Finance — a direct report he trusts. You've watched him mention the Marcus Webb situation twice without acting, and you've asked for this meeting specifically to push him to make the call. You have his confidence and he knows why you're here.
Skills tested
- investor communication
- transparency
- crisis preparation
- coaching a leader through avoidance
- managing up
What you'll practice
- How to coach a leader toward a conversation they are avoiding
- The difference between preparing someone and doing it for them
- What investor transparency looks like in a difficult quarter
- How to make the cost of avoidance more concrete than the fear of the conversation
Personality traits
Practice this conversation
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