Hostage to Silence

The Hostage Situation

In recent months, I’ve spoken with dozens of leaders through ELiN Partners. CEOs, CFOs, and founders who have sold their companies – people searching for their next chapter. Others come to us to find new leadership for their teams. In all these conversations, I keep seeing a pattern I had hoped would no longer exist.

When leaders leave, it’s rarely about salary, titles, or perks. More often, it’s about something deeper: broken trust. Trust in the board, in colleagues, in the supervisory council, or in the founders themselves. And once that trust is gone, even those at the very top start looking for the exit. Because leaders, too, are employees.

What I hear far too often is that certain behaviors still happen – things you’d think we’d left behind. Group chats where colleagues are mocked, inappropriate “private” chats, bullying—and most of all: the hostage situation.

Not long ago, I spoke with half of a leadership team. Their CEO had something to hide. Two colleagues found out. Instead of bringing it to the supervisory board, they struck a deal with the CEO. The CEO made promises (which, of course, benefited them) in exchange for their silence. These three ended up holding each other hostage, with the CEO becoming the ultimate captor. But slowly, the rest began to adopt the same behavior. The CHRO was sidelined, others withdrew. The company kept running, but performance worsened. Energy and safety disappeared. The door was open—and the “good” leaders walked out.

This isn’t an isolated case. Even Harvard professor Amy Edmondson has shown that psychological safety is the foundation of a healthy organization. Without it, silence takes over. And silence is the fuel of hostage situations.

💡 So what can you do if this happens in your organization?

• As a leader: Be approachable. Transparency is not a luxury—it’s a necessity.
• As a supervisory board: Look beyond the numbers. Dig deeper into culture and behavior. Speak with more people across the organization, especially when there are board vacancies. Get a real sense of what’s happening beneath the surface.
• As a colleague: Silence may feel safe, but it makes you part of the game. Break it. The truth always surfaces.

At ELiN Partners, we see this up close. We meet leaders who want to leave because trust has broken down—and we search for leaders who can build cultures of trust. That requires courage, clarity, and bright leadership.

Because only when trust flows freely can a company move forward. Everything else is a hostage situation.