Many years ago, I was working as a Business Development Director for a company called Crown Personnel.
They had recruited a new Managing Director who had promised the Chairman
Stephen Crown that he could turn the company’s fortunes around within weeks.
He said, what the company needed was a more stick than carrot approach
management style and he was just the man to deliver the required discipline.
So, at his first meeting with me and the other Directors he told this story to
Illustrate how he was going to take the company forward.
He said: back in the middle of the 18th century there was a mighty emperor who
had a harem of over a thousand wives, concubines and female attendants and he loved them all dearly.
The problem was, they would never pay a blind bit of notice to anything he said and this was becoming an embarrassment to the emperor especially when he had guest.
You see it was the custom back then for the king’s wives to put on a dance show for the emperors guest but his wives and concubines blatantly refused to even show their face.
Then one day he had this brainwave, he said; I know what I will do, I will
consult the General of my army.
He is in charge of thousands of valiant warriors who are obedient to his every
word, I will ask him how he is able to keep also his soldiers in check.
So he summoned his general and explained to him the issues he was having with all his harems and asked for a solution to his problem.
The general responded and said that there was an easy solution to the problem that will take less than 10 minutes to fix and his wives will become as obedient as his soldiers are to him, you just need to show some decisive leadership.
The emperor said well that’s great, I have a feast lined up next week and I want to put on a good show for a change as last year I was a laughing stock of my entire empire.
The general said: ‘I can do it but you might not like my methods for resolving
this Problem’.
The emperor said I don’t care, do what you have to, I just need my wives to put
on a show.
So the general said: Ok, I will need to see the women now. So in the palace
grounds he went with the general to his harem’s quarters and he said to the king to ask all his wives, concubines and female attendants to form an orderly queue.
Well as soon as he gave the order, they all just continue doing what they
were doing as though the king hadn’t said a word.
So the emperor said well now over to you let’s see how you do it.
So the general went into the middle of the room and said: I am only going to
give you one warning and one only can you all form an orderly queue in front
of the emperor, well they all just fell about laughing.
Then general turned to the emperor and said are any of these women in charge, he said yes my first wife the Queen mother.
So the general called two of his soldiers from outside into the palace and then
told them to take the queen and in front of the others behead her.
And without any hesitation what-so-ever before the king could say anything
the queen lay dead on the ground.
The general then said to all the women can you all now line up in front of the
king and within five minutes there was an orderly queue in front of the grief
stricken king.
Coming back to our meeting, I’m thinking why on earth is he telling us this
morbid story.
Then he continued: From now on in, I want to see month on month growth in
your sales figures and I am only going to give you one warning and one
only and then heads will roll.
Many entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, freelancers, independent contractors,
small business people, and other self-employed folk start their own business
because of having to put up with people like this buffoon.
Bad bosses come in a surprising variety of shapes: The slave-driver, the
jerk, the screamer, the moron, the weirdo, the one who never gives anyone
any credit, the manipulator even the story telling dictator.
So what do you do if you have a bad boss and don’t want to quit, or cannot quit?
Here are a few ideas:
- Do your best. Nothing succeeds like success. Hopefully, the boss will come to
realise your value and not want to lose you, or maybe other people in the business notice your commitment. Either way, you will keep your job and some of your sanity if you don’t sink to the boss’s level.
- Make sure you keep a log of inappropriate comments and actions; you
never know when it might come in handy, in a lawsuit or wrongful dismissal case for instance. Similarly, document your work and what you do right.
- Last, but not least, become self-employed and start your own business.
The best answer of all!
And I will show you exactly how to get started.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Warmest regards
Joe Davis FREC
CEO and Founder RSU Services
P.S. A valuable lesson I learned from Alec Reed, the chairman of Reed Employment is this:
“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes to stumble and fall, because most of the time, the greatest rewards come from doing the things that scare you the most. Maybe you’ll get more than you could have ever imagined. Who knows where life will take you. The road is long, and in the end, the journey is the destination.”
P.P.S. If you have been reading my newsletters and just waiting for the right time to get started then you will be waiting for a very long time, and before you know it you will wake up one day and not be in a position to even get started. You can say that in a year from now you’ll have more money, more experience, more time, but you can make all of those excuses again, every year.
There will never be a perfect time. So just give us a call right now and get started.