Confronting An Amateur

“Fred, could I talk to you a moment?”

“Sure.”

He followed her into the office. She closed the door behind them. He turned to face the young woman.

“So what do you want?” he asked.

“Do you have a problem with me?”

“Do you mean with you personally or professionally?”

“It seems to me that you do not like me at all, she responded with a stern voice.

He smiled as he took a seat in one of the chairs realizing this is going to be longer than he had hoped, “What does it matter how I think of you? I treat you in a professional manner. I do my job and I do it well.”

“I just want you to know that what you say to me has no power over me,” she said defensively, “It means nothing.”

“Com’on Cassie, who are you trying to convince of that?”

“It’s true; your words have no power over me.”

“Look Cassie, I understand that you have been through a life of bullies and you have this need to throw up a strong front, you need to repeat this mantra to convince you but you are foolish if you expect me to believe that nothing I say means anything to you. If that was true then why are we in here wasting our time? If it was even the slightest bit true why would you even feel a need to tell me?”

“I just wanted to let you know that I don’t appreciate how you talk to me.”

“First of all you just said that what I say has no power over you and now you are saying it does. Besides how did I talk to you?”

“Just now, a few minutes ago,” she fired back.

“What, when I asked you if you were going to pick up your trash?” he looked at her as if he was attempting to interpret her as being for real.

“You made me look stupid in front of the employees.”

“Are you sure that the person who made you look foolish wasn’t you?”

“What do you mean?” she demanded.

“An employee just got done cleaning the floor and then mopping it. You went and got a yellow absorbent pad for your feet which wasn’t an issue. If you want to look like you have mental issues to the employees then that is your problem.”

“I put them on my feet so I wouldn’t track up their floor…”

“Their floor, the one that six people were walking back and forth over, doing their job? Wow, you really made an impact. But again, that wasn’t the issue. The issue was you left your pads on the floor not only messing up a floor but creating a slipping or tripping hazard.”

“Corporate uses those pads because they aren’t a slipping hazard.”

“Possibly if used correctly but then if that was true how were you able to slide your feet across the floor while having them under your shoes? They are a potential slipping hazard.”

“In case you didn’t notice, I was very busy.”

“Yeah, so busy that you were able to get yourself a drink and grab another pad for you feet which you also left lying. You also found time to stand around and talk to others and text someone. Believe it or not, I’m not the only one who has eyes and notices this. I may be the only one with the guts to tell you about it. Others do see you. Your example is incredibly poor.”

“Look, I’m your boss…”

“And it just shows how ineffectual you are by using a phrase like that. You have to tell people you’re the boss. That is just sad. A true boss is understood as a boss through their words and actions not by saying, ‘I’m your boss.’”

“You’re making me feel like I’m a poor manager.”

“You think leaving trash around for someone else to clean up especially after another employee just wasted their time cleaning it up that makes you a great manager?”

“I do a lot of things for my employees.”

“I know, you made a mess for them. Every time I come in your work area is a mess. There are trash cans everywhere and you have trash all over the floor making a slipping or falling hazard. To me, it just looks like people in your section don’t care. Why would I go to them to get anything done?”

He had yet to take his eyes off of her while she avoided any eye contact.

“Hey, we work hard…” she started to flub out.

“Not hard enough you can’t get your people to hit a trash can which is a foot from them.”

“Well, I understand that this isn’t the army and people are people.”

“This is one of the biggest reasons I go to the other managers instead of you. There is nothing to you but just you doing your best to make rationalizations and making excuses. I’ve never seen a manager make excuses over safety issues. You are the absolute first I have ever seen do that.”

He felt repulsed as he saw her start to cry. He shook his head.

“All I know is when you use the phrase, I understand people are people, while your work area looks the way it does is that you are telling me that your standards are incredibly low and you are blaming it on your people,” he continued seeing she was too busy crying, “When I told you about your work area the other day, I wasn’t trying to be an ass. I was expressing a concern for you and your staff’s safety which you honestly aren’t concerned. I was expressing a pride in my work which is pulled down by your lackadaisical attitude.”

“All I am saying with I know that people are people is that I know they aren’t perfect and aren’t infallible robots,” she countered through tears forming long dark streaks with dissolved eyeliner down her chubby cheeks.

“Yes, I get that point. That is why we have managers to make sure the job is being done at the standards of the company. You accomplish this by setting the example which you don’t. You accomplish this by working with your people teaching and training them how to do their job. You do this by challenging your people to raise their standards and improve their performance.

“Will people always be at their best? No, of course not but through true leadership and training you can raise their performance to within a zone where the top and the bottom are within acceptable standards.

“But this doesn’t occur because you are too busy making excuses and rationalizing. Instead of having a team with well honed skills you have various individuals who not only have low standards such as yours but are frustrated which helps to explain your high turnover. But as usual you blame it on others while playing the victim.”

“My people aren’t frustrated,” she insisted forgetting about her crocodile tears.

“Keep telling yourself that. You don’t have to believe me especially when you see it right in front of you and yet refuse to believe. I have had several come to me and ask how to do something they should have been trained on weeks or even months ago or just to vent about you.

“You act all proud because the big things are okay, but how can they be okay if the small things aren’t? Your frustrated employees muddle through as best as possible. Sure they get the job done but most must work far harder than they need to so they can force the completion of the bigger projects. If the smaller things and attention to detail were taken care of they wouldn’t have to struggle so hard.”

“Well, why haven’t they ever told me about it? Who were they?”

“That is how little you know of what is going on around you. No, I will not betray their trust or confidence in me. They don’t tell you because all you really have to offer is threats, fear, and excuses.”

“Fear?” she asked innocently.

“Yes, fear, most people think if they say anything you may hate them and make their lives miserable because you are unable to admit you may be wrong. You play a victim when anyone tries to help you by pointing out a problem you have. You lie to others and yourself. God only knows of what you are capable. These people need their jobs. That is why they are here and they are willing to play your game to a point.”

He stopped for a moment. He could tell she was thinking or struggling to think of a comeback. Perhaps she was even thinking of using her authority to send him home or write him up. He didn’t care. He knew he was right and when it came down to it even if she had the guts to fire him it would just give him a reason to find something better.

You’re not a manager, you’re pathetic. The only reason you became a manager was because this company is really hurting for bodies,” he added and started to get up.

“Wait, I’m not done with you.”

“Possibly, however, I am done with you. I have things to do, things more important than stroking your feeble ego.”

“You will leave when I say you can leave.”

“Let me give you a little hint. When I was in officer training in the military we had a meeting outdoors on some bleachers with a brigadier general who was the commandant of the training program.”

“This isn’t the military…”

“Typical, just keep looking at everything with an incredibly closed mind, don’t learn from any example. Just go by the leadership and management you learned in those five minute computer lessons corporate gave you,” he countered, “Continuing to try to reach you, part of the bleachers collapsed for some reason. The general immediately stopped what he was doing and headed quickly to help those who had fallen. As he was assisting people he gathered the information he needed and made decisions which helped those injured. Luckily, no one was hurt that bad. I guess just shook up a bit from the fall.”

“What’s that have to do with me?” she protested.

He just shook his head in a slow disbelief, “He cared. He cared enough to make sure the people were given the care they needed. He cared enough to issue an order to have all bleachers checked immediately on post. He cared enough to make sure his people had everything they needed to complete their jobs. He cared enough to make sure that the people were trained to do their jobs and that they did their jobs. He understood people are people as well and he made sure they were challenged instead of left just wondering what they are doing. That is key to being an effective manager: caring about the company, the people, the mission, and the clients. Caring enough to raise the bar for yourself and lead by example. New employees who you seem to have a lot of them see you do a job half ass or as if it doesn’t really matter they believe that is what they can do as well. You’re not in the business of caring. You are in the business of winning a popularity contest. Even an egomaniacal Gaius Julius Caesar took time to care for the people of Rome and his legions. Now, if you will, I have things to accomplish today.”

“I’m not done with you.”

“I’m done with you. Fire or write me up if you need but be advised I will be in contact with HR. I have things to do. Either you’re smart enough to figure it out or you will just be overwhelmed and found out for the fraud you are.”

He left the door open behind him as he returned to work. She fumed.