Chapter 9 - The Blind CEO
It was the height of monsoon in Mumbai, 2021. The glass façade of the 32nd floor office of the prestigious Risk Advisory firm shimmered with streaks of rainwater, as if it too were shedding silent tears for what was brewing inside.
I was meeting Uday, the CEO, in his sprawling office overlooking the skyline. He was nearing the end of his second term—his eyes set on one last victory lap: crossing an unprecedented revenue target before stepping down.
He greeted me with a confident smile, but the fatigue beneath his bravado was evident.
“Let’s not pretend,” he said. “I know what you’re here to talk about. But we can’t afford to lose Shree.”
That was the first red flag.
I leaned forward. “Even if keeping him is costing you your people and your culture?”
He shrugged. “Shree brings in millions. He is also our lead guy in Cyber Risk. These are minor HR headaches.”
Down the corridor, in HR, Nate was pacing, phone in hand.
“She’s filed a formal complaint,” he whispered to me later. “Priya Sharma. She’s sharp. One of the best in her cohort. But Uday’s asking me to sit on it again. I can’t keep doing this.”
Shree Srinivasan had long been whispered as unethical and unscrupulous— he took clients on pleasure trips on the firms expense account, his billing numbers reflecting the ROI. But he had also racked up a quiet trail of complaints—women who exited the firm without a word, others who left whispered warnings behind.
This time, Priya wasn’t willing to disappear quietly.
In a late-night project debrief, Shree had crossed the line. Again. Priya filed a detailed report with HR. Nate, after an internal probe, recommended termination.
But Uday intervened.
“Give him a warning,” he told Nate. “We can't lose Shree now—I am sure these things are exaggerated.”
Over the next few weeks, I watched as the situation curdled. Shree returned to work with little more than a wrist slap. Meanwhile, Priya noticed him sending flirtatious messages to former employees, including one that read, “Miss our late-night meetings ;)”
She confronted Nate. “You said there’d be consequences.”
He looked away. “I tried.”
That weekend, Priya gathered a few trusted colleagues at a café near Lower Parel. “We can’t keep enabling this,” she said. “Let’s speak to Uday together. If he won’t act, we walk.”
They did speak to him—calmly, directly. And he replied with chilling detachment:
“You seem to have a viewpoint that you are right and others are wrong. Have you thought how this will impact your career?”
Vedanta informs us of ‘attachment to what is pleasurable’ and ‘aversion to what is painful’. Uday’s attachment to Shree’s billings and his aversion to discomfort led him into ethical blindness. The ego clings to short-term gains, fearing the disruption of truth.
Uday's brain was trapped in a pleasure loop. The anticipation of financial success hijacked his reward system. To avoid the emotional discomfort of confronting a high-performer’s misconduct, his brain suppressed the threat.
Ethical decision-making requires activation of the front part of the brain—precisely what gets sidelined under pressure and greed.
By October, Priya, resigned. Their reasons were clear: “toxic leadership,” “unsafe work culture,” “values in conflict.”
Internally, murmurs grew louder. An anonymous Glassdoor post titled ‘Protecting Predators for Profit’ began trending on LinkedIn.
That’s when Sucheta, a tenacious business journalist known for her surgical reporting, picked up the scent.
She reached out to former employees and eventually got her hands on internal emails—one of which read: “Make this go away. We can’t afford to lose Shree.”
Two weeks later, her exposé hit the pages of the Sunday edition: “Advisory Firm Shields Serial Harasser for Profit.”
The backlash was swift. Partners began receiving furious calls from clients.
I never met Uday again, I had stopped working with him. But I did read about Shree’s dismissal from the firm. It was the news.
Does your organisation allow results to blind decision-making to ethical reality?
What "Shree-like" compromises exist in your organisation—justified by performance but corrosive to culture?
Do you see people around you more attached to being seen as successful than to acting from their highest self?
How not to fall into the trap
Stillness Check-ins: Before making people decisions, sit quietly for five minutes and reflect—what’s driving this choice: fear, greed, or truth?
Red Flag Reviews: Institutionalise anonymous reporting and quarterly reviews of ethical breaches—do not let performance be the only lens.
Prefrontal Priming: Use journaling or coaching to bring long-term values to the surface before taking action. This activates ethical reasoning in the brain.