Managing Sticky Situations at Work

Sticky E-situations 185He often tells Mickey how much he likes the blog. When the CEO wastraveling across the country recently, a woman came up to him, introducedherself, and said she worked in marketing for the company.Because of the blog, she felt comfortable enough to speak directly tothe CEO. They had a great conversation, sharing similar interests asif they were two colleagues. Upon his return the CEO said to Mickey,‘‘This has been the best communication tool we’ve ever had bothinternally and externally.’’ Mickey realizes that if he muzzles Nichole,he will threaten the openness of the blog. But he also realizes that if heallows her to continue to proselytize, he puts the future of the blog injeopardy.Mickey sets limits. When the company began the internal blog,they decided not to monitor comments. They believed that if someonehad the courage to write something, what they wrote should beposted for everyone to see, so long as the item contained neither profanitynor prejudicial statements. Mickey does manage the commentscoming into the external blog, which is open to everyone in cyberspace.As for the internal blog, however, Mickey wants to maintainthe sense of openness of a non-monitored blog. Nonetheless he mustintervene with Nichole. He finds her comments increasingly prejudicial.Even though she does not say anything negative about people ofother faiths or of no faiths, her intent is clear. He decides he can justifyblocking her password if she continues to proselytize.Mickey determines the power sources. The CEO is enthusiasticwith the blog and how it has humanized him to the staff. He has sungMickey’s praises throughout the company. If Mickey suggests that hemonitor the blog and screen its comments, the CEO will likely agree,but with reluctance. Mickey, however, prefers to deal directly withNichole. She has strong personal ties with many people in the company.When her child was ill, everyone talked about it and ralliedaround her. If Mickey censors Nichole, she might complain to othersand that could jeopardize the blog activity. Even though Mickey hasa strong power base all the way to the CEO, Nichole also holds ontoa strong base within the ranks. Given these considerations, Mickeydecides to confront Nichole as gently as possible but within the limitshe has set for himself, namely, no proselytizing.PERSONALITY OVERLAYMickey imagines that Nichole is an Expressive. She enjoys beingwith people, and she’s a talker. She has embraced the blog because