It sounds like a lot of passive-aggressive behavior on everyone's end and observing from the sidelines without bringing things up like an adult.
Conflict is good in healthy doses.
But if a disgruntled employee can't even maturely say "Look we've got a problem. This is the way I see things and this is the reason I disagree with you, nothing personal...", then there's a problem with culture.
A CEO, or any decent leader, needs to be decisive, communicative and live with the consequences and risks of a decision while learning post hoc. People do get territorial. People do act like dicks. People do threaten to quit. Be a leader and learn to manage these people and situations. Firing someone or moving someone to a corner without first talking to them is a pretty dickish move too.
A good CEO will hire people that complement his or her skills.
If you're too worried about directly confronting someone who is too valuable to you, at some point you should hire someone with the people skills to diffuse these situations in a way that minimizes the damage.
Conflict is good in healthy doses.
But if a disgruntled employee can't even maturely say "Look we've got a problem. This is the way I see things and this is the reason I disagree with you, nothing personal...", then there's a problem with culture.
A CEO, or any decent leader, needs to be decisive, communicative and live with the consequences and risks of a decision while learning post hoc. People do get territorial. People do act like dicks. People do threaten to quit. Be a leader and learn to manage these people and situations. Firing someone or moving someone to a corner without first talking to them is a pretty dickish move too.
A good CEO will hire people that complement his or her skills.
If you're too worried about directly confronting someone who is too valuable to you, at some point you should hire someone with the people skills to diffuse these situations in a way that minimizes the damage.