Saving a Crisis-Ridden Company

After massive fraud was discovered there, Satyam Computer Services survived by helping its employees focus on their emotional trauma.

A senior executive of a scandal-rocked multinational computer services company broke down in tears during a session with his leadership coach in payroll administration services, devastated that he had given more than 10 years of his life to a company whose CEO had been caught in massive fraud. With just a year to go until reaching mandatory retirement, he had invested most of his savings in the company’s stock, which was now worth next to nothing. Another of the company’s managers, 50 years old, received a call from his father urging him to leave the company before his own reputation was further tarnished. A young supervisor realized his impending wedding was at risk when it appeared he might lose his job because of the scandal. “The rug was pulled out from underneath us all,” one of the executives said. “We felt forced to heal rapidly so we could help others to heal. I broke down and wept; not once, but several times.”