[Originally posted on January 3, 2023 at 2:25 p.m.]
Unless things suddenly and radically change, I don't think my American coworker will be joining us in this bold, new venture, i.e., becoming the private tutors of and content-creators for the CEO. My boss talked with my coworker the other day, describing the "audition" process we're going through, and my coworker M was, according to my boss, having none of it. M essentially said that he was "bowing out" of the process, meaning that he's now done with our company and will seek his own fortune—which he's already been doing by talking to recruiters and looking at job ads. I wish M luck, and I can't say I blame him for feeling jerked around. We're all being jerked around: why is the CEO "auditioning" us when we're all multi-year veterans of the company? Shouldn't we have earned the CEO's trust by now? Anyway, it is what it is, and now, it's down to my boss and me. We both present for one hour on Thursday afternoon, after which the CEO will make his determination as to whether we're up to snuff.
I have to say that, based on what the boss himself said, he wasn't particularly diplomatic with M. He told M that, by bowing out, M was putting the boss "in an awkward position." I half-joked that this sounded like the laying on of Catholic guilt. It's certainly not the psychological tactic to use when trying to persuade someone to your see things your way. Guilt-tripping is an easy tactic to see through, and the usual result is that people who are made to feel guilty merely double down on their position. But my boss is a combative New Yorker type, so a bit like Donald Trump, he's reflexively confrontational in style. The best way to erode a hardened "yang" position is to go in with a softer "yin" approach—hard to do when you're reflexively confrontational. People are more amenable when you approach them humbly and not manipulatively. (That's a lesson I know but often fail to put into practice myself.)
Today, I hope to finish making my PowerPoint presentation. I'm also making a printed version of the lesson since I don't know what facilities I'll have access to at the CEO's office. Right now, I'm imagining his office as a sort of Bond-villain lair with the latest facilities, including 3D holographic-projection capabilities. I'll be happy when the "audition" is over; I'm planning to celebrate with a lasagna that I've been slowly putting together over the past few days: tomato sauce and sausage one day, pasta another day—you know how it goes.
3 comments:
Continued good luck with all that.
I can't say I blame M for his decision, either. Not that there isn't merit in staying on until something better comes along, but we all have our limits.
It's also a little rich that your boss would accuse M of putting him "in an awkward position," as if it were M's fault that this is happening. M is not the source of the current awkwardness--it's the big boss. But that's the pecking order for you, I suppose.
Good luck either way it goes.
Nothing quite like workplace drama. Assuming the audition is successful, you'll be subject to the CEO's arbitrary whims and capriciousness as part of your everyday existence. Or maybe you'll earn his respect and trust, and you'll have the best job in the company. One of those.
Either way, good luck to you!
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