Don’t Be an A-Hole

Bosses, leaders, CEOs, coaches. Do you know what a majority of your people want from you? Don’t be an A-hole.

That’s it. That’s the bar.

You probably read that and felt a little offended. Maybe defensive. You might ask what do you mean by that? I get it.

People experience leadership through behavior. Tone. Timing. Optics. Awareness. Those things matter more than the slide deck or the strategy memo.

Leadership Is Lived, Not Explained

I know many people prefer examples, so here is one that just played out in real time. Washington Post CEO and publisher William Lewis.

William Lewis is an A-hole.

On February 4, he announced the paper was cutting nearly half of its staff, about 300 employees. That decision included wiping out the entire sports department. For any newsroom, that is brutal news. For journalists in 2026, it is not just a job loss, it means it could be the last time working for a major newspaper.

Some people would say mass layoffs automatically make you an A-hole. They do not. They make you a businessperson. Companies shrink. Markets change. Hard decisions happen. Adults understand that.

What made him an A-hole was everything around the decision.

Optics Matter More Than Leaders Want to Admit

Days after announcing the layoffs, William Lewis was spotted partying in the San Francisco area while attending Super Bowl festivities.

Let that sink in. The biggest sporting event on the planet. Champagne, celebrities, VIP events. All of it happening right after he eliminated the people whose entire job was covering sports.

This is not about legality or corporate rights. This is about awareness, reading the room and understanding how leadership looks from the other side of the email.

And here is the kicker. He didn’t even survive the optics. The guy who ultimately cut him loose was Jeff Bezos. Yes, that Jeff Bezos. The Amazon founder. The owner of The Washington Post. A man known for historically bad optics of his own.

According to reporting from The Financial Times, the whole situation became the “last straw.” Bezos reportedly “lost patience after the Super Bowl thing.”

That is saying something. To be clear, William Lewis was not technically fired. He emailed staff saying, “After two years of transformation at The Washington Post, now is the right time for me to step aside.”

Sure.

Still, the message was loud. Even for Jeff Bezos, even he knew firing your sports department and then showing up at the Super Bowl looked terrible.

What People Actually Want From Leaders

This is leadership 101. We don’t expect perfection. We expect respect, basic awareness, and leaders to understand how decisions land emotionally, not just financially.

Research backs this up. Sixty seven percent of people say trust ranks as the most important leadership trait. Ninety percent of employees say transparent communication matters for trust at work. Seventy percent of employees feel more motivated when leaders explain purpose and direction.

All of that matters.

But none of it matters if people think you do not care. Leadership does not fail because leaders lack data. It fails because leaders forget they are being watched. Every move, photo, and public moment.

So yes, trust matters. Communication matters. Purpose matters.

But one hundred percent of people agree on this. Nobody wants to work for an A-hole. That is the job.