I overheard a conversation at work. The boss was asking his minions to get extra staff to come out, on a Sunday, to be there within 30 minutes to an hour, tops, to a location in central London, to earn £200 for some reasonably easy work.
The rest of the team had all been there since 5am, as per our call-sheet, and it was now about 9am.
“How we doing getting those extra people?” the boss barked.
“Hmm, not so good, it’s a bit early on a Sunday morning and no-one’s up,” the junior staff member replied.
“Don’t bring me problems,” the boss snapped back. “We’re a Solutions Company, bring me solutions!”
I couldn’t see the staff member, only heard him. He was obviously taking an invisible, frustrated breath, trying to remain calm and keep his job. He replied, after a moment’s hestitation, “Yes boss, I’m working on it, making it happen.”
He didn’t say, “Oh stuff your Solutions Company! We’ve all been up since 4am and I’m working my butt off trying to get your ‘extra people’ to turn up at a moment’s notice. If you knew you needed them, why didn’t you book them yesterday, or last week? And while we’re at it, *%$!# you!”
Yes, he kept that inside.
Obviously the boss had been asked to provide more people, to stump up extra ‘deliverables’ and he was passing his stress down the line. But be a human, don’t be a corporate rottweiler, don’t be a d*ck.
After a few hours, some extra people DID turn up, and everything was OK, crisis over. But bear in mind that those 20-somethings obviously had other things they’d planned to do that Sunday: chilling, sports, five-a-side, gym, recovering from hangovers… but they turned up. The junior staff member had obviously called in some favours, begged, borrowed, incentivised, bribed, told them he ‘owed them one’. And they were going to be paid – £200 is not to be sneezed at.
Anyway, my point is…
And this is my point: some people respond to pressure and aggression, and will get the job done out of fear of incurring their boss’s wrath. Because, if a boss says, “Oh well, do your best, I know it’s a tough ask”, some people will take that as permission to fail, to not go the extra mile. Additionally, having to solve these kinds of difficult problems is character forming! The minion will feel pleased they succeeded.
But, having said that, if you don’t enjoy that kind of pressure, stress and tension, maybe you are in the wrong job and a nice, steady occupation with no time-crunches might be better. And for all the bosses: take a breath and try to be nicer, whilst also communicating how urgent the request is, and how high the stakes are.
