The CEO is the one likely to be awake at night agonizing about difficult issues with his management team-or any other issues, for that matter. The letter is short and to the point to appeal to a CEO's short attention span. It follows the "terrible problem" format: "Do you have this terrible problem? If so, we can help." Big plus: The letter, including signature, is only 175 words.
May 8, 20—
Mr. Milton Matthews
President
National Publishing
8700 S. Ridgeline Boulevard
Highlands Ranch, CO 80126
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Dear Mr. Matthews:
Are you agonizing about terminating a senior executive on your team? Does the termination involve big risk factors such as:
- Alienating senior managers or board members
- Threat of an age-discrimination or wrongful termination lawsuit
- Laying off a close personal friend or relative
- Laying off a trusted, long-tenured employee
- Prospect of media attention or bad publicity
- Danger of workplace violence
If you're planning a difficult termination,
don't do it alone. Call CareerLab, experts in senior executive outplacement.
Since 1978 we've provided confidential, high-level outplacement to more than 300U.S. corporations, both large and small, from AT&T to XEL Communications.
We understand what you're going through—the gut-wrenching decisions, the sleepless nights—and we specialize in difficult, traumatic, emergency cases.
If you're agonizing about an outplacement decision, don't wait another minute. Call me right now at 303-790-0505, and let me explain how we can make this painful transition go smoothly for everyone concerned. We're strategists. We can help.
With best wishes,
William S. Frank
wsfrank@careerlab.com