How to keep your job Cover.indd - Richard Maun

How It All Started
my way up to Nigel’s offi ce, with a sinking feeling that suggested
I wasn’t going to a celebration and wasn’t being invited up to the
boardroom for tea and cakes! What had Peter done? What had I
done? We would fi nd out presently.
The meeting was brutally short. It went like this:
Nigel: Hello Richard. We have a problem.
Me: Hello Nigel. How’s business? What’s wrong?
Nigel: Business is tough and I need to sack Peter.
Me: (Speechless, gaping in shock.)
Nigel: But I don’t want to sack him yet and I don’t want him to
know that I intend to get rid of him either.
Me: But but… he needs to know how you feel.
Nigel: No. His productivity is terrible and his confi dence is
worse. If you tell him about this it could destroy what
little confi dence he has left and then he will certainly
have to go. I’m giving you a month to turn him round,
or he’s out.
Me: Can I have longer than a month? Six to eight weeks
would be more reasonable.
Nigel: No. If he doesn’t do something signifi cant in the next
four weeks he’s out of here. Now I have to go to another
meeting. Goodbye.
Me: Er, bye then.
Now, that was an interesting experience. I remember it vividly.
At the time I already knew that Nigel had a reputation as a bully and
that his leadership style could, at best, be described as unfriendly,
and at worst, savage. I also knew that Peter had been contracted
as a consultant and hadn’t passed his probationary period and so
could easily be removed.
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