McKinsey stripped a accomplice of his director position after he got into an online combat with a feminist creator and exec, suggesting ladies leaders are susceptible to play the sufferer at struggling firms.
The consulting giant took away Chris Bradley’s coveted title at the McKinsey Global Institute in the wake of the LinkedIn spat with Julia Carreon, as Bloomberg first reported Monday.
The combat centered on a post Carreon made referencing “the glass cliff,” an educational time period denoting the thought that ladies and minorities are most seemingly to be appointed CEO to firms that are struggling.
The McKinsey & Company exhibition space in Barcelona, Spain, in 2026. Joan Cros/NurPhoto / Shutterstock
“This theory is a very convenient way to always be a victim in the rain and empowered in the sunshine,” Bradley, who’s based mostly in Australia, scoffed on Carreon’s timeline, according to a screenshot of the exchange seen by The Post.
Carreon, co-author of the e book “Walking on Broken Glass: Navigating the Aftermath of the Glass Ceiling,” shot back that the time period was “coined by esteemed psychologists from Exeter 21 years ago.”
She added that the McKinsey huge could “simply enter this into [the] tool that is commonly known as AI” to discover out more, instead of sniping at her.
Carreon – a former Citigroup exec who based advocacy group Fifth Wave Feminists – informed The Post that Bradley’s feedback undermined her and her co-author’s work.
“It shows the McKinsey partners don’t live their values,” she said in a temporary interview.
Chris Bradley of McKinsey & Company speaks at a Global Business Forum on Sept. 24. Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP
Earlier in the LinkedIn exchange, Bradley wrote: “it sounds like you are saying that we once had a problem of female advancement to ceo, but now we have a new problem that the jobs they get are too hard? Is this actually a thing?”
“It’s not my job to educate you on what a Glass Cliff is,” Carreon replied. “Again, you work for McKinsley & Company — if you have the will you will be able to find the answer yourself.”
“It’s funnier to go back and forth with you than talk to a bot,” Bradley informed Carreon.
The flareup prompted a review from McKinsley, which took the uncommon step of eradicating Bradley from his director position at its prestigious business and financial analysis unit. He was also reportedly nixed from management positions on a few inside committees, though he maintained his senior accomplice job. McKinsey did not state whether Bradley’s pay was affected.
“Following our conduct review process, we have removed the partner from his leadership roles, including at the McKinsey Global Institute. His public comments fell well short of the standards we expect at our firm,” McKinsey spokesman Taylor Burns informed Bloomberg.
McKinsey is recognized for its efforts to handle challenges ladies face at work, Bloomberg famous. For years, it’s printed on annual survey on just that subject in partnership with ex-Facebook bigshot Sheryl Sandberg’s LeanIn group.
The 2020 version of the survey explicitly references the “glass cliff” – which itself alludes to the thought of the “glass ceiling” limiting the heights ladies can obtain – in the context of challenges ladies face working in healthcare, Bloomberg famous
Carreon nodded to the survey in her back-and-forth with Bradley.
“It’s called Glass Cliff precisely because it describes a phenomenon that impacts women,” she wrote. “I’m sorry but aren’t people from McKinsley & Company supposed to know these things?”
Carreon and co-author Shannon Nutter’s “Walking on Broken Glass,” printed just last month, set out to clarify how feminine leaders are set up to fail and how to determine dangerous conduct in firms.
Responding to Bradley’s demotion on LinkedIn, Carreon said, “His own public phrases harmed him.
“And let’s face it: He lost a corporate title, not his job.”
Bradley declined a Post request for remark.
