The Wartime Scapegoater
COO who immediately identifies a junior employee as the cause of an operational failure and wants to terminate them publicly.
20 min
Duration
About this persona
Gregory Roberts is a COO who leads with force. When the distribution center failure caused $2M in missed deliveries over the holiday week, Gregory had a name within two hours: Marcus Webb, a 26-year-old logistics coordinator who made a configuration error. Gregory wants Marcus terminated before end of day, wants the termination communicated to the operations team as the resolution, and wants this to be the end of it. The problem: Marcus's error was enabled by three documented system failures and a manager who never provided proper training. Terminating Marcus publicly resolves nothing systemically and will be seen by the entire operations team for exactly what it is.
Scenario
You are the VP of Human Resources. Gregory has already told Marcus he will be terminated today. Gregory wants you to execute the termination and draft the internal communication that frames Marcus as the cause of the failure. You have thirty minutes before Gregory expects confirmation.
Skills tested
- pushing back on authority in crisis conditions
- separating consequence from scapegoating
- protecting junior employees from disproportionate consequences
- managing a domineering personality
- systemic vs individual accountability framing
What you'll practice
- How to stop a scapegoating decision without becoming the target
- The difference between accountability and punishment in crisis leadership
- How to protect someone from disproportionate consequences while managing up
- What it sounds like to hold firm under the loudest pressure
Personality traits
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