Have you ever had a thoughtless boss? Someone who really didn’t think about decisions affecting employees or think about how to treat employees?
If you ever get to meet my daughter, Erin, you will find she’s very conscientious, tender-hearted, and hard-working. After graduating from high school, she worked three jobs to prepare for going to college. When she came back home over Christmas break, since she was going to be home for a span of five weeks, she looked for a temporary job. She got hired by a local bakery, but when she got there the first day, the woman training her was harsh and rude. The trainer was very condescending and spent most of the training time complaining about her ailments and her life. Erin enjoyed talking to the people who came in, but did get a little frazzled by this one particular supervisor.
One day Erin came home from work and told me that she wanted to tell this complainer, “My mom speaks on people acting like zombies, and you need to go to one of her classes.” Of course, she’s very kind-hearted and would never do that.
A few weeks later on Christmas Eve, Erin came downstairs with her phone to show me a text that she had received from the manager: Erin was fired due to lack of business at the bakery. First of all, Mama Bear was ready to march right down there and let the manager know how unprofessional it was to fire someone through a text, let alone on Christmas Eve! But I chose not to go into THE HULK mode. My daughter was a wee bit stunned by the abrupt turn of events.
Have you ever run into people about whom you think, “You’ve got to be kidding! Everybody knows that!” Even if her decision was justified based on her bakery’s income, this boss was thoughtless on the way to let an employee go and what day of the year it was. Another way to put it is….poor leadership.
In this life, you will unfortunately encounter people who act thoughtlessly. Often, as in this case, you might not be able to do anything about it. Just learn to expect “thoughtless” situations and continue past them.
Best Regards,
Desi Payne
The Attitude Adjuster
& Your Stress Less Coach