Metro CEO George Greanias is back on the job after serving a week’s suspension for viewing adult websites on his laptop while connected to Metro’s WiFi network.
Since the surprising announcement 10 days ago, Greanias has been publicly silent, spending time with family members out of town. The Houston Chronicle’s attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful.
While Metro has made much of its greater transparency under a new administration, Carol Limperos, a Houston leadership coach who has worked with executives for 25 years, said someone in Greanias’ position needs to be transparent emotionally as he walks in the door at 1900 Main.
“He’s got to be transparent in terms of how he’s feeling, how he’s relating to people, how he sees his actions impacting his work and his workplace,” said Limperos, president of the Limperos Group consulting firm. Limperos is not working with Greanias or Metro.
Limperos said Greanias needs to ask employees if they can accept his apology and then he must give them some latitude, she said.
“He’s got to acknowledge the potential need for more explanation and make a statement that says something like, ‘I’m willing to take the time to talk to you individually if you want more information,'” she said.
Here’s Greanias’ statement about his suspension and return, which he put out on Monday. I imagine this will be awkward for awhile. I can’t say I’ve ever been in the position of having to deal with a coworker who had done something like this, so I don’t know how other folks might react to him. I can say that at least there hasn’t been a story since the initial news broke, which is clearly good news for Greanias. There have been no new revelations, no changes to the original news, no backtracks or retractions, which is good both in terms of limiting the scope of the issue and of depriving the story of any further oxygen. It’s also good for him that no one who can be described as a friend of Metro has spoken out against Greanias. I don’t know if he’ll survive the long term or not, but so far the short term looks okay for him.