Did ColdplayGate accidentally bring two careers down, one meme at a time?

Khaleej Times

4 hours ago

It was not a good day to be Astronomer CEO Andy Byron or the company's human resources chief Kristin Cabot on July 17. Chances are the duo is deeply regretting attending the Coldplay concert in Massachusetts, US, where the event's Kiss Cam caught them cuddling each other during a Coldplay concert. Chances are even Chris Martin did not realise that his light-hearted remark upon seeing the duo on the big screen, 'Either they are having an affair or they are very shy', would invite ridicule for them en masse on social media. Chances are that this collective frenzy would change the course of many lives.
Of all the reactions that this episode might be invoking in you, discomfort should reign supreme. Not because any rumoured affair between two people stands confirmed now, but because this moment of social media virality is possibly bringing down two houses, one meme at a time.
Adulting is hard. And social media reels make it even harder. Because when a split second is presented there stripped of context or complexity, it becomes fodder for those attempting to fill their empty moments with laughs, and perhaps some hate peppered in. At the time of writing this piece, this has been the impact: the Facebook page of Byron's wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, appears to have been deleted owing to a flurry of comments. She has also dropped 'Byron' from her surname.
An alleged employee of the company has claimed everyone at Astronomer is having a good laugh because Byron was not really liked by anyone. An old clip of Cabot saying, 'I lead by example and win trust with employees of all levels — from CEOs to managers to assistants' is inspiring more chuckles. Anything and everything that Byron and Cabot may have ever said about work, or about people who inhabit the workplace, is subject to scrutiny.
In putting someone's private moments, even if unconsciously, out there for public consumption, we may have made their near and dear ones more vulnerable. And in pursuing this innate voyeurism that compels us to dig out old comments and photos, we are stripping them of any dignity they might truly be in need of at this moment.
When New York Post spoke to potential employment lawyers asking them to foresee what is in store for them at Astronomer, many said Byron is hanging on by a thread but Cabot's fate is sealed. It is also contended that Cabot needed to be more careful because in her role as the head of human resources, she is meant to draw up rules for any romantic relationships in the first place.
This moment is a stark reminder of how cultures shape a workplace, and why objectivity is important in C-level jobs. Simply because culture is formed at the top of the ladder, from which it then makes its way down. As the CEO of the company, Byron was meant to embody the values that shape the culture of the organisation. And in her role as the head of human resources, Cabot was meant to uphold those values. When ethics are compromised in such leading roles, it is bound to impact the culture of an organisation. And no amount of strategic brilliance can compensate for a broken culture.
An affair or not, the captured moment will not simply be erased from the annals of social media. Let's have the humility to accept what we don't know. Whatever happens at Astronomer in the next couple of days will remain under intense media scrutiny. The question currently is: who will pay more dearly? It's never been lonelier at the top.