Mad Hatter

In the 1800s, hatmakers often used mercury to treat fancy fur hats. Today, we know that playing with mercury is a big poisonous no-no, but back then, that wasn’t the case. Since mercury poisoning can make people act a little nuts (up until the point it kills them), old-school hatmakers would sometimes exhibit strange behavior after spending too much time playing with the beaver hats. And thus the much-beloved phrase, “mad as a hatter,” was born.

In the 21st century, we don’t let fur hatmakers play with mercury anymore. But the term “mad hatter” lives on. Today, we use it to refer to a company leader, like a CEO, who acts a little…shall we say…mad. They make inexplicable decisions, often seemingly on a whim. The people who work for them are often confused by their behavior, and this can lead to employees—and shareholders—losing faith in the company and potentially jumping ship.

Mad hatters are usually not voted into their role, but rather get there some other way, like being the daughter of the company’s founder. Unfortunately, a mad hatter isn’t likely to realize the insanity and ineptitude of her own behavior and step down. Most of the time, they either have to be removed from their position, or they’ll continue to smear their crazy all over the company until it goes under.