One company I worked with for a few years had an annual meeting where all the sales and unit managers from around the country were flown in for the event. These events are generally to announce things such as the state of the business, the goals and direction for the New Year, and to give out awards for exceptional performance.

As with many of these types of events, there are social events planned as well. Many of these have included open bars. Yes, an invitation for normally professional people to get really stupid and make poor judgments. This particular event was no different.

An open bar in the hotel lobby was the “after dinner cocktail party.” As the drinks flowed freely and the evening wore on, the behavior became more rambunctious. One gentleman, and I use the term loosely, disappeared to his room and later re-appeared in the lobby in his boxer shorts and a t-shirt. He proceeded to entertain the “troops” by dancing around and showing his, ahem, “assets” to various onlookers. At one point he felt the need to show his “member” to some of the women nearby. Some had a good laugh, perhaps for his shortcomings. Others were not so amused.

Eventually, the situation resulted in an HR investigation resulting from a complaint from one of the ladies in attendance. The flasher was terminated for his action. However, that was not the end of it. He counter filed for wrongful termination. His reasoning? It was not his penis he revealed to the ladies. So, you might ask, “If it was not his penis, whose was it?” According to him, it was not a penis at all, but he had simply reached his hand down the front of his shorts and extended his thumb through the opening. Continue Reading »
Mr. Happypants Gets Fired!

Have you ever had a day in the life as a manager when you wondered “Why did they feel they had to share that with me?” What I am talking about is employees who feel they must give you the intimate details of what physical reason they have for needing to leave work early, or call off from work that day. Trust me, I really didn’t need to know all they felt they needed to share!

For example, I stepped outside my office one morning, only to be greeted by one of my supervisors. She had a very distressed look on her face as she made a beeline toward me. Granted, I already knew I was in for a treat as this particular supervisor had always been a piece of work. Few managers could tolerate her, so I was her last chance. Anyway, I digress. In her typical gruff, booming voice, she announces to me that she needs to go home. I replied, “Okay.” She then proceeded to tell me why, as if I really needed to know the details. “I popped a Continue Reading »
TMI- Too Much Information!

For those of you who have been checking in from time to time to see the latest post, you are about to see a lot of changes. For our new readers, welcome! I hope you enjoy the archives, and come along for the ride as we evolve from the Strategic Middle Manager format to a more inclusive, broad-based format we hope appeals to a broader scope of managers. Ultimately, we will point this site to our ‘under-construction’ site called Manager Musings. There will be more information about this exciting change to come. But for the moment, I want to simply explain the reason for the change as best I can.
One thing that is constant in our world is change. In this instance, the change will be good. The reason for the change is quite simple. I woke up one day and had an “Aha!” moment! Yes, I have heard of others having these moments, and I so longed to have one of my own! Simply enough, this “Aha!”‘ was the fact that I had Continue Reading »
Changing Direction