A CEO who posted a selfie of him crying while announcing layoffs has responded after being criticized for not being in touch. Braden Wallake, the CEO of HyperSocial, said Wednesday that he’s not trying to take it out on himself.
“No, my intention was not to do it for me or to bully myself,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “I’m sorry it came off that way.”
The apology on the professional networking site came a day after he revealed how the firing of some employees was emotionally draining.
“Days like today, I wish I was a business owner who is just money driven and doesn’t care who I hurt in the process,” he wrote on Tuesday. “But I’m not. I just want people to see that not every CEO out there is cold hearted and doesn’t care if he/she has to fire people.”
He said whether it’s one or three employees being laid off, he acknowledges they might still work under him if “better decisions would have been made”.
“I know it’s unprofessional to tell my co-workers I love them. But I hope with all my heart that they know how much I do,” he added.
Braden Wallake, the CEO of HyperSocial, posted a selfie of him crying while announcing some layoffs at his company. He received criticism for the photo and some hailed him for his vulnerability. LinkedIn/Braden Wallake
Some applauded the post for the humanity shown by Wallake, including a former employee who was fired by him.
“For those who want to hire me, I’m only interested in working for people like Braden Wallake who have a positive outlook on life,” said Noah Smith.
However, some LinkedIn users didn’t take the photo of him too kindly.
“Taking a picture of yourself in the middle of crying to post on social media is absurd, narcissistic nonsense. He might be the nicest guy in the world, but that doesn’t change the fact that this post is self-serving, non-musical nonsense,” said James Cave, a project manager at Microsoft.
Another LinkedIn user who saw the picture said she was recently fired and suggested she would “lose her mind” if her former CEO had posted a selfie like Wallake did.
“You cry?” wrote Jackie Stabach. “I cry. We cry. You still have your job. Imagine if we all posted pictures of US wines? We would never get hired because our industry forces us to be RESILIENT.”
Wallake responded to many of the criticisms under the viral post, but made a new one on Wednesday reflecting on the experience. Now, he says, he wants to help people find work for others who are hiring.
“What I want to do now is try to improve this situation and start a thread for people looking for work,” he wrote. “Here it is – comment it away. This is for YOU to start a new future. To make YOU stand out.”
HyperSocial is a marketing services agency based in Columbus, Ohio. According to its LinkedIn profile, it has between 11 and 50 employees.
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Christopher Brito