Too Many Promotions

A friend who recently retired from a large corporation shared the funny, but sad observation that once an individual reaches a certain level, the only way he or she can be fired is to throw up on the chairman or make a $1 unauthorized company credit card expense. 

Regardless of present fit for the job, with so many supporters and promoting managers throughout the individual's career, a current manager is hesitant to risk being the one to announce that the emperor has no clothes.  He or she doesn't want to risk alienating colleagues who have previously promoted the under-performing individual.

It's savvy to be sensitive to our colleagues.  But it's costly for performance, productivity, profits and morale when we fail to replace ineffective managers.