Finally, in the event that you do raise your issues with this type of person, they’re very likely to dismiss you and throw you off in one of two ways. Typically, they will label you a hater and cut you out, as Elizabeth Holmes and her boyfriend did when subordinates raised issues.
He received this email from Sunny Bhiwani:
‘That reckless comment based on absolute ignorance is so insulting to me. But had any other person made these statements, we would have held them accountable in the strongest way. The only reason I have taken so much time away from work to address this personally is because you are Mr. Schultz’s grandson. The only email on this topic I want to see from you going forward is an apology.’
Or, if they’re more powerful, they’ll assuage concerns by appealing to some kind of conspiracy against them. Holmes, for instance, said that no one could see the technology at Theranos. For this reason, the only way that we were gonna get responses to our questions was if we signed NDAs. Because the Theranos proprietary technology, these trade secrets, were so valuable that Quest and LabCorp, the two dominant players in the lab industry, were trying to find out answers to these questions by any means possible.
So when you start hearing a ‘with us or against us’ ultimatum or hearing about how secrecy is necessary for reasons that might make for a good plot in a John Grisham novel, be on red alert. In my experience, it is more often the case that someone is trying to con you.
Continue reading on the next page
[adinserter block=”3″]
Sharing is caring!
