The One Takeaway from My Two-Week Stint at Adelphia Communications Corporation (Shortly Before Executives Were Arrested and Charged with Fraud)

Backstory:

It was September 2001. I had just left the security of my job as Comptroller for the local city to launch my own consulting practice. Within a week of my business being up and running, the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened. The uncertainty in the world - combined with just learning I was going to be a father for the first time - made me second-guess my decision. I decided that the dream of having my own consulting practice had to be put on the back burner and so I applied for an open position with Adelphia Communications Corporation.

Tim Rigas, son of then-CEO John Rigas, had created a new role that happened to align well with my skill set. The job involved researching the financial strength of local municipalities to provide "ammunition" during negotiations over tax assessments for Adelphia's extensive property holdings (I didn’t say it was a honorable position). The salary was excellent - equivalent to roughly $140,000 in today’s dollars - a more than 50% increase over what I was making in the Comptroller role. It seemed like a perfect fit.

At first, everything seemed normal. I met with my new boss, went through HR paperwork, and was led to my cubicle. Aside from a family member of a former co-worker who sat in the adjacent cubicle, I was largely ignored by everyone. Before I was left to my own devices, my boss gave me two directions:

1. Always wear a tie. Mr. Rigas (John) would be offended and very upset if he ever saw you without one.
2. Attend Mr. Rigas' birthday celebration. It was strongly "encouraged" for all staff to report to the company gym (the office was a repurposed school) to sing him "Happy Birthday."

The tie requirement didn’t bother me - I wore one every day anyway. But the birthday requirement? That gave me an odd, almost cult-like feeling. Still, I chalked it up to corporate culture and moved on.

There was just one problem: This role had been created without any actual job duties or expectations. Each day, I sat in my cubicle, completely unacknowledged by anyone other than my adjacent co-worker, with literally not even one single task. Even my boss had no idea what to do with me.

After nearly two weeks, and after what should have been a career highlight attending an executive meeting with the Rigas family, it became abundantly clear that this was not the place for me.? I couldn’t put my finger on it exactly – could have been the cultish vibe or the unprofessionalism of the executive team in that meeting.? Or perhaps it was the wildly inappropriate juvenile tirades from the VP of Finance I witnessed on multiple occasions – whatever it was – something told me to run.

So, I did.

Almost two weeks to the day after I started, I turned in my notice. My boss, somewhat apologetically, tried to change my mind, but he knew it was pointless.

When I told friends I had quit a job where I was making great money while doing nothing, they told me I was crazy.

Fast forward a few months, and news broke about what the SEC later described as "one of the most extensive financial frauds ever to take place at a public company."

Suddenly, those same friends were calling me Nostradamus and saying I was brilliant.

I was neither.

But I did learn something that I have followed religiously ever since:

Trust your gut.

Your instincts – listen to them! Sometimes, the smartest decisions come from that feeling you just can’t ignore.