notes of a restless girl.
Apparently I Let My Supervisor Get Away With Everything...
For years, I heard the same thing:
"You let the Supervisor get away with everything."
At first, I took it personally.
Then I started finding it funny.
Because there was just one tiny detail everyone seemed to overlook.
I fired him.
So when people tell me I let him get away with everything, I have to resist the urge to ask:
"How exactly do you think that story ended?"
Apparently, there is an alternate version of history where I spent my days protecting the Supervisor from accountability.
In this version, I would hear complaints and respond with things like:
Employee: "The Supervisor is causing problems."
Me: "Interesting. Have you considered lowering your expectations?"
Or:
Employee: "Something should be done."
Me: "You're right. Let's ignore it and see what happens."
Spoiler alert: that's not what happened.
The truth is that I spent a lot of time trying to help him succeed.
Coaching. Counseling. Discussions. More discussions. The kind of discussions that start with:
"Please don't make me have this conversation again."
And somehow end six months later with:
"I cannot believe we're having this conversation again."
As a manager, you want people to improve. You want to believe they'll turn things around.
Sometimes they do.
Sometimes they don't.
And sometimes they take your faith in humanity, put it in a blender, and hit "frappe."
There seems to be a misconception that if corrective action isn't announced over a loudspeaker, then it never happened.
People don't see the meetings.
They don't see the documentation.
They don't see the difficult conversations.
They just see the ending and assume nothing happened before it.
Meanwhile, I'm over here looking at a file thick enough to qualify as a short novel.
My favorite part is hearing:
"The Director always protects management."
Buddy, I am management.
Do you know who causes most of my headaches?
Management.
In fact, I eventually promoted my Supervisor to a very prestigious position:
Former Supervisor.
It's one of the few promotions nobody ever applies for.
So when someone tells me I let him get away with everything, I can't help but laugh.
Because if firing someone counts as "getting away with it," I'd hate to see what accountability looks like.
The lesson I learned?
People will always think they know the whole story.
They rarely do.
But on the bright side, every time someone says I gave my Supervisor special treatment, I get to smile and think:
"Well... that story took an unexpected ending, didn't it?"
One more thing:
The best part was the employee reaction.
For years, I'd heard:
"Why are you letting him get away with everything?"
Then the day he was fired, there was about a 15-minute period of silence while everyone adjusted to the new reality.
Followed immediately by:
"Wait... you actually fired him?"
And then:
"Well, I didn't think you'd actually do it."
To which I wanted to respond:
"I'm sorry. Did you think I was collecting documentation as a hobby?"
One employee looked at me like I had just canceled Christmas.
Another looked like Christmas had come early.
A third acted personally offended that I had solved the problem they had been complaining about for years.
And then, my personal favorite:
"You know, he wasn't that bad."
Interesting.
A week earlier, I could have sworn this same person was drafting his resignation letter because of him.
That's when I learned the final rule of management:
Employees want accountability.
Until accountability happens.
Then they want a committee meeting.
And after the committee meeting, they want a study.
And after the study, they want more time.
And after more time, they ask:
"Why doesn't management ever do anything?"
At that point, I just nod, take a sip of coffee, and stare into the distance like a war veteran remembering the battle.
Because apparently, I let my Supervisor get away with everything...
Right up until the moment I fired him.
And somehow, that was controversial too.
Nobody wins. and Nobody is happy.
Forgot to add my music of the day
That could be my fight song.
