Did your mom ever tell you “Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.”? Mine did too. But these days, 2 a.m. or after is when many of my clients reach out to me for the first time, because “people problems” inside their company are keeping them awake. And those people problems—retaliation, abusive leadership, breaches of trust, false accusations and avoidable lawsuits—are risking their company’s future.

A recent 2 a.m. call came from a construction executive whose company may sound like yours: a rich history of financial success, a small group of top leaders and the leadership level filled with people getting older and hoping for an eventual buyout. But the company also had a ticking time bomb—a major workplace-culture issue that was on the verge of bringing down the whole organization. It was the company’s tyrannical CEO, who reigned with the tools of fear and retaliation. No one wanted to speak up for fear of losing their job.

Reprinted courtesy of Pete Havel, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.