James Bagnall is writing in the Montreal Gazette (Unanswered prayers at Nortel) about the recent departure of the new President, Gary Daichendt. (Daichendt Lasts Three Months at Nortel) Daichendt had come to Nortel three months earlier after a career at Cisco. He came highly recommended and was being groomed to be the next Nortel CEO after Bill Owens who is to retire soon.

As Bagnall tells it, Daichendt arrived at a June board meeting, announced that he had heard from God and it was time to make him CEO. The Board did not agree, so Daichendt quit. In Bagnall's words,  

"The sequence went something like this: With Owens occupied elsewhere, Daichendt told directors he and his wife had prayed that morning for guidance. God's message, he informed the board, was that he should quickly be made CEO, implying Owens would have to go. Daichendt added chief financial officer Peter Currie would also have to leave Nortel."

This story sounds so far fetched. It was known that Daichendt was a deeply religious man as well as being an astute business leader. This was supposed to be a plus for a company with a tarnished ethics image. However, Bagnall chooses to frame the story as if Daichendt's faith came as a surprise to the Board. The Board is positioned as the victim. Daichendt is positioned as aggressive, manipulative and foolish for believing God has an interest in who should govern Nortel.

The meeting was in camera, thus Bagnall is hearing it from someone whose interest it is to paint Daichendt in a negative light. There is no counterbalance to this bias. Bagnall does not say he sought independent confirmation of the details. He doesn't mention who he talked to or whether he confirmed what was said. This is not reporting. It is gossip.  

Better explanations for Daichendt's departure are found here: Nortel, we hardly knew ye and here: Two sudden departures a new shock to Nortel

Faith at work in the Corporate world is not an unusual or foolish phenomenon. Industry Week did a cover story God and the CEO a while back on the faith of CEO's in America.  Here is a list of other articles in the mainstream media.(Mouse over for a brief intro)

Business Week (November 22, 1999)

Religion in the Workplace: The Growing Presence of Spirituality in Corporate America