8 Fired Executives & What You Must Avoid

Exposed, Humiliated, & Publicly Shamed

Even senior-level executives and celebrities are not immune to being terminated from their jobs. Listed below are 8 true stories featuring some high-ranking executives and CEO's, whose careers have been altered forever because they committed the cardinal sin of "fudging the truth."

COMPANY/EMPLOYER #1: IBM's Software Maker Lotus Development
EXPOSED EXECUTIVE: Jeffrey Papows, former IBM President
THE LIE: He "fudged" his academic and military background by stating he was a pilot, he was promoted to the rank of Marine captain, and he earned his Ph.D. from Pepperdine University
THE TRUTH: He was an air traffic controller (not a pilot), he was a Marine first lieutenant (not a captain), and his Ph.D. came from an unaccredited correspondence school
THE CONSEQUENCE: He was forced to resign from IBM

COMPANY/EMPLOYER #2: Food Network's "Dinner Impossible" TV show
EXPOSED EXECUTIVE: Robert Irvine, British-based Celebrity Chef
THE LIE: He claimed that he designed Prince Charles' and Princess Diana's entire wedding cake in 1981
THE TRUTH: He attended the school where it was made and picked fruit for the cake; that's all he did!
THE CONSEQUENCE: He was fired from his own show in 2008

COMPANY/EMPLOYER #3: MIT - one of the world's most prestigious universities
EXPOSED EXECUTIVE: Marilee Jones, former MIT Dean
THE LIE: She claimed to have earned a Bachelor's Degree and a Master's Degree
THE TRUTH: She has no college degrees whatsoever!
THE CONSEQUENCE: She was terminated from MIT after 28 years of service

COMPANY/EMPLOYER #4: Salomon Smith Barney (an investment firm)
EXPOSED EXECUTIVE: Jack Grubman (Wall Street's then-highest-paid analyst)
THE LIE: He said he studied at MIT because MIT is extremely prestigious
THE TRUTH: He really attended Boston University
THE CONSEQUENCE: Although he was not fired for lying on his resume, he deliberately misled investors. When this was discovered, he was subsequently fired, slapped with a $15 million fine, and banned by the SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission) from the securities industry for life

Non-Existant Qualifications

COMPANY/EMPLOYER #5: Notre Dame Football Team
EXPOSED EXECUTIVE: George O'Leary, former Notre Dame Head Coach
THE LIE: He said he had a master's degree from New York University and was a football superstar in college
THE TRUTH: He attended New York University but never graduated. Also - and incredibly - he never even played one single football game!
THE CONSEQUENCE: He resigned 5 days after this lie was revealed

COMPANY/EMPLOYER #6: A Norwegian political party
EXPOSED EXECUTIVE: Liv Løberg
THE LIE: She claimed to be a registered nurse with 2 degrees
THE TRUTH: This high-school drop-out only had 1 year practical nursing education
THE CONSEQUENCE: She was sentenced to 14 months in prison for lying on her resume

COMPANY/EMPLOYER #7: RadioShack
EXPOSED EXECUTIVE: David Edmondson, former CEO
THE LIE: He said he had earned 2 degrees (Psychology and Theology) from a California-based school
THE TRUTH: He only finished 2 semesters in Theology, so he never earned a degree. In addition, the school he actually attended - Oklahoma-based Heartland Baptist Bible College - does not even offer a Psychology major
THE CONSEQUENCE: He resigned in disgrace

COMPANY/EMPLOYER: Yahoo!
EXPOSED EXECUTIVE: Scott Thompson, former CEO
THE LIE: His resume stated that he earned degrees in both accounting and computer science
THE TRUTH: He has a degree in accounting only and nothing in computer science
THE CONSEQUENCE: Yahoo! fired him

A Yahoo! shareholder sums it up best when he wrote:

"If Mr. Thompson embellished his academic credentials, we think that it (1) undermines his credibility as a technology expert and (2) reflects poorly on the character of the CEO who has been tasked with leading Yahoo! at [a] critical juncture. Now more than ever, Yahoo! investors need a trustworthy CEO."

Don't justify lying on your resume with such excuses as feeling insecure, thinking it is acceptable to misrepresent your education, or rationalizing, "Everybody's doing it." It is selfish and thoughtless to accept a role that you are not qualified for. You suffer, the company suffers, and its customers suffer. A sad situation - that might put you in prison!

Ensure that you avoid job-killing mistakes like the ones above - and many other blunders that can ruin your chances of landing that juicy executive position. Look into this highly-recommended authority - one of the best executive resume writing services - who can increase your prospects of entering the C-suite... read more...

The 3 Secrets to an Executive's Staying Power as a Leader

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Executives are relied upon to lead and help position their companies to "best-level" status. Even with the best of intentions, though, they can get side-tracked and/or burned out. As a result, the organization can suffer. Listed below are 3 essentials that executives can adopt to shift their organization's performance from "neutral" into "high gear."

SECRET #1: Stay connected to your organization's vision and its cause. Sometimes, it is easy to drift away from the organization's purpose, because you can become immersed with the Board of Directors and senior managers regarding administration, planning, and other sundry concerns. Therefore, staying grounded as to why you are there in the first place - and having some mechanism to renew that thought process every day - is very important.

SECRET #2: Suppress your ego and your reactive behavior. Otherwise, you fall prey to the consequences of toxic behavior. Many leaders think they will lose authority if their pride is compromised. However, the opposite is true. You start gaining true power, once you have learned how to shut out and quell your personal agenda. Ultimately, you emerge healthier and stronger, in both mind and body.

SECRET #3: Keep things simple. Avoid the complexities. Focus on what really matters.

Include these 3 tips into your leadership repertoire, and operational success will be yours - in the form of a highly-functioning organization, a devoted team, and continued company growth! To professionally display your resume leadership skills to hiring decision-makers... read more...

3 Must-Have Skills That Aspiring Executives Need

You - the ambitious leader - feel it in your bones that you're ready and willing to accept next-level career challenges. In addition, you have already adopted some of the habits that established executives possess - namely delivering your message with brevity, practicing ethics and integrity, and treating life's challenges as opportunities for growth.

Listed below are 3 suggestions to further accelerate you on that path.

1) BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS.

In today's fast-changing world, a broad frame of reference is more helpful than a narrow one. Being well rounded is extremely important. Take the time to read about leadership skills, product/service development, sales and marketing, strategy management, human resources, and organizational development. All of these subjects will help to improve your generic thinking skills, which will lead to better problem diagnosis and resolution. These traits are highly valued in today's executive-level world.

2) CULTIVATE YOUR DIGITAL AND DATA COMPETENCIES.

Decades ago, employees other than the executives would hold accountability for these factors. This is no longer true. Why? Today, executives are expected to be technologically savvy. Take the time to read and absorb how digital marketing and strategizing can outpace the competition. Otherwise, your company can suffer. How? By losing its competitive advantage, experiencing financial loss, and facing possible extinction. Think of Kodak (the one-time camera giant who filed for bankruptcy in 2012) and Nokia (the cellphone pioneer who lost their industry-leadership footing when the iPhone was introduced).

3) LEARN HOW TO LEAD WITHOUT EGO.

This is hard to do. However, if you want to succeed, strive to control your own reactive behaviors, and keep your ego in check. This is crucial for today's top executives because they have to role-model to their direct and indirect reports, a corporate culture of achievement, unity, and goal-surpassing performance.

Adopt these 3 suggestions to help prove to hiring decision-makers, that you have "the right stuff" to join the executive team and collectively lead your organization to new heights. To craft a professional resume that proves you have the right stuff on paper... click here...