Long Lives the Corporate Bed Check: A Wake-Up Call for Sleepers and C-Suites
- Carlo Cotrone
- Nov 17, 2025
- 3 min read
First used in 1917, the term bed check means “a night inspection to check the presence of persons (such as soldiers) required by regulations to be in bed or in quarters.”
In 2025—108 years later—a corporate attorney shared with me that managers in the attorney’s legal department conduct metaphorical bed checks: On a frequent, often manic basis, these managers call junior attorneys or drop by the attorneys’ offices to ostensibly “check in.”
The company at issue is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that seems to offer its legal professionals the very best in corporate perks and high prestige to match. To the outside world, the company is considered innovative and a proverbial great place to work. Its attorneys have impressive resumes that seemingly bear witness to the excellence of the legal function.
On the inside, though, everyone knows that the tacit purpose of the bed checks is to exert control over the rank and file, not to engage in productive substantive work discussions or the building of authentic team rapport.
Not a Unique Quandary
No matter how far mankind progresses as a civilization, human nature ultimately asserts itself, often with suboptimal results.
Legal departments, law firm practice groups, and legal solutions provider teams are no exception.
Organizations whose leaders institute or tolerate bed checks typically have a dark secret: Team members feel trapped in a toxic, underperforming work environment.
Indeed, bed checks are symptomatic of a control- and fear-based culture in which trust is shaky or wholly absent.
Why are bed checks still going strong in some 21st century enterprises? Possibly due to one or more of these root causes.
Managers and leaders are driven by a scarcity mindset, not an abundance mindset. As such, they believe that control and fear are the most effective tools for governance and staying power.
The department or the enterprise at large has institutionalized an incentive system that rewards stagnation, cronyism, and adversarial tactics in lieu of vision, innovation, merit, and collaboration.
The legal department is multi-layered and swelling, with senior tactical attorneys being assigned one or more direct reports to “manage.” In actuality, the hierarchical management structure exists primarily to justify paying senior attorneys higher salaries and give them a taste of authority and cachet.
The organization believes that it has a captive workforce due to factors such as geography or a depressed labor market.
Sleepers and C-Suite Executives, Awake!
Professionals who are subject to corporate bed checks or similar form-over-substance antics understandably may feel demeaned and demoralized: Their managers’ paternalistic behaviors telegraph a fundamental lack of trust in individuals and their professionalism.
These disenchanted “sleepers” may feel a lack of commitment and apathy towards their department or enterprise. They may pose flight risks in the short or long term.
If you’re a team member who feels stuck in a toxic situation, it’s critical for you to dig deep to find your way out or at least come to a place of acceptance so you don’t become embittered and broken. I share navigation strategies in this prior article in ACC Docket.
For C-suite leaders who genuinely want to cultivate vibrant, high-performing team cultures, proactively vet the status quo on the ground. If managers are wielding bed checks as a customary process, it’s likely that something is seriously amiss. Seek to actualize abundance as I explain in this article.
From the Dark Ages to the Enlightenment
Regrettably, corporate bed checks persist as a present-day marker of toxicity, frustration, and unfulfilled individual and group potential. Still, they’re more readily discoverable than other insidious, less visible management practices. This presents leaders with a tangible opportunity to diagnose and effect changes for the better.
Enlightened leaders manage and lead based on empowerment and trust, not control and mistrust. In so doing, they reap rewards for all to enjoy.
If your enterprise still employs bed checks, take decisive action to cease and desist.
