by Mel Walker
Justin didn't know how to react to the backhanded compliment, "ok."
"I know you know very little about me so why don't I start there." Barry pushed back from the paperwork for a moment. "I used to be a teacher, an elementary teacher actually."
Justin crossed his legs as he fought the urge to mutter, he managed six-year-olds.
"I thought I could make a difference to society and all. I taught at an inner-city school." Barry lowered his chin while raising his eyebrows.
Justin passed up the opportunity to pat him on his back.
"Anyway after a couple of years of that I realized how little a difference I was truly making; it was one man screaming against the hurricane if you know what I mean."
So you quit.
"Around that time there was a big push for technologists, Stem, science and technology and all as if I have to tell you.” He actually paused as if he expected Justin to bond with him. After realizing an acknowledgment wasn’t coming, he continued. “So I went to grad school, learned management, worked my contacts and landed a gig over at Parker Medical Devices. I worked my way up the short corporate ladder and when General Modifications came to a calling ... well, here we are."
So you've never actually ever done any work in your life? Justin bit down on his lip, "yes here we are."
Barry glanced down at his paperwork once again, "let me start by saying you are a valued member of the General Modifications team. However, unfortunately, due to market conditions, the boat is being downsized for it to stay afloat if you get my drift." The half smirk, half smile which flashed across his lips seemed so insincere that Justin had to glance over at the paper to make sure the script didn't contain the words - insert smile here.
Barry continued, "to maximize the talent of the new organization we are asking each candidate," Barry glanced up at Justin making eye contact for the first time since he began his speech, "that would be you."
It was at that moment that Justin realized he not only didn't like Barry Boyton from Parker Medical Devices but that he hated him. The man’s mere existence caused a reaction in Justin, something he hadn’t felt since his teenage years, a growing cauldron of hate, fueled by frustration and illogical actions.
It was a revelation because in twenty-nine years at General Modifications Justin had worked with and for a host of managers, executives, and leaders. Some he liked, some he disliked, most were neutral, however, in less than two minutes; Barry had done something no other manager had ever done to Justin Grant.
He pissed him off.
"Barry, why don't we cut to the chase? We are both professionals."
The comment caused the reaction Justin was seeking. The papers waved in Barry's suddenly shaking hands. He hesitated.
His hesitation was his downfall.
Justin smiled, "let's skip the rest of the script. I won't say a word, our secret. I'm pretty sure I know what is in there, let me have a go." Justin held up his closed portfolio simulating reading a statement, "In these challenging times, blah blah blah, General Modifications will reinvent itself ...blah blah blah... we will once again be the industry leader ... blah blah. But to reach these goals, it all starts with you, our valued employee."
Barry relaxed a bit as he put down the paper; a sense of recognition on his face.
Justin placed his closed portfolio on the table. "Not my first rodeo Barry." The two stared at each other for a second before Barry looked away. "Barry if we are going to work together you will quickly find out I am a pretty straight shooter, go ahead and ask around. If you need something done give it to me and then leave me alone. I don't have the time or the tolerance for the ..." Justin paused, "... Corporate speak." He glanced down at Barry's papers. "Let’s cut to the chase. What do you need done?"
Barry adjusted his tie and took a sip of his coffee as Justin continued to look at him, evaluating how he responded to the unorthodox approach.
"Ok since you claim you like it straight...." Barry began slowly. "There are only six slots in our new Quality organization. Three have been what we are calling slotted, meaning individuals have already been assigned. You do not fall into that small group."
Justin took a breath and wondered if this is what Chris and Paul experienced.
"The remaining three slots are what we are calling Posted. Meaning candidates must apply to be considered. There are currently twelve people posting for the three remaining slots. These include the remaining un-slotted colleagues in Quality for General Modifications, the similar colleagues from the quality organization at my legacy organization and a handful of invited colleagues who we feel could be valued members of the new organization."
Justin forced himself to not think of Marcus at that moment.
"So a one in four shot?"
Barry's eyes twinkled as he did the calculation, "you do like to be direct don't you?" He folded his hands in his lap, "unfortunately or fortunately for you, depending on your point of view, the odds are a little better. The three slots are not comparable, so each of the 12 candidates are competing for specific roles, not all are equal."
Barry shifted the folder once again, "for you the title would be Chief Quality Engineer..."
"So you are making me apply for the title I outgrew six years ago?"
Barry's lips quivered as his cheeks turned flush red as if he had been slapped. He read directly from the paper, the question expected and scripted by human resources, "please don't interpret any job titles in the new organization to be comparable to similarly titled positions in the past." His voice almost became robotic, "titles, for the most part, are industry standard terminology. However, the breadth of responsibilities and duties associated with the title will represent a new entity altogether in the new General Modifications organization."
"Blah, blah, blah." Justin could no longer control himself. "Who am I competing against Barry?
"Now you know that is privileged information. Even if I knew HR would not allow me to share that material."
A smile crept once again across Justin's face as he realized how lousy a liar Barry was and he wondered for a second how he had gotten this far in the Corporate world with such a horrible poker face. "I realize that Barry and nothing you say leaves this room, but, and I do know this from previous exercises, that you can tell the candidate," Justin bit his lip as he hated that phrase. Candidate removed the emotions. Candidate removed the humanity. The candidate was a phrase for a thing, not a person. He continued, "you may share with the colleague, the number of people applying and whether they are legacy colleagues or outside candidates."
Barry pondered the request for a second. "Ok this is what I can share, one is legacy Parker Medical Devices, and one is legacy General modifications. There isn't much more I can share at this time. You won't have to wait long however as this is an expedited process as we want to get a new organization up and running as quickly as possible. Within the next two weeks."
Justin nodded, two weeks was quick for General Modifications. "Great, who else do I have to interview with for my position?"
Barry paused as he glanced down at the paperwork once again. Justin already braced as he knew he was about to be fed another wave of corporate speak.
"These positions are coveted as you can imagine. So we treat them as such. There won't be an interview per say."
This finally got Justin's attention.
Barry's back stiffened up, "For these positions, we are asking each candidate to present."
"Present? As in a presentation?"
"Yes," a nodding head accompanied the response, "more specifically a thirty-minute presentation to a panel of colleagues. Myself, a member of the executive leadership team, and an unnamed outside industry expert."
Justin had to take a breath to prevent his mind from racing off to a solution. "What is the topic?"
For this Barry resorted back to his notes, "each candidate will be sent via email the assignment. They will have twenty-four hours to prepare and then present. Each candidate will be
provided the same task, and the email will be sent at the same time so that no one candidate is offered an advantage of another. The candidate will not be given any prior information as to the breadth, depth or any details related to the task.
They will not know in advance when the project will be sent to them nor are they allowed to forego any of their day-to-day General Modification activities during their preparation period. Also, each candidate cannot discuss the assignment with other candidates. They may consult the common resources they would utilize to solve any similar business problem such as the electronic library, reference materials, industry research, and internet resources.
Also, the candidate may refer to appropriate colleagues and other human resources as part of their research, however, based on similar jobs you may expect your fellow candidates to reach out to similar if not the same resources. This mission will test your creativity, adaptive ability, knowledgebase, expertise, and leadership and presentation skills. Good luck."
Justin bit his tongue. He had been a part of the corporate world for too long. That entire dissertation of Corporate word vomit made complete sense to him. Anyone not familiar with how a large multi-national corporation operated would be frantically typing into Google to interpret this foreign language.
As Barry completed the script, Justin realized he had all the information he was going to receive from Barry today. "And if after presenting, I am not selected for the position?"
Once again an anticipated question, this one was on a three by five index card, "the candidate, if unsuccessful in his bid for the position will be placed immediately on a departure wave for dislocated employees. He will be provided off-boarding assistance as outlined in the General Modifications human resources blue guide."
Justin cut him off by standing, "so after twenty-nine years of service my entire career is riding on a thirty-minute presentation which I will be only given one day to prepare?"
Justin didn't wait for a reply as he knew Barry didn't have an index card response to that question, "don't bother looking for an answer, I already know it. You know with people being our most valuable resource and all." Justin spit out one of the corporate mantras. He turned and left the conference room as a stunned Barry remained seated.
Storming down the hall, he barely acknowledged a rapidly approaching Marcus.
"You are done with Barry already; I'm up next."
"He's all yours," Justin muttered as he headed for his office his head still in a daze. Usually, Justin would reach out to Leslie, his counsel for all these years, she would offer perspective, support and provide a clear path toward a resolution. However, the image of them arguing this morning remained a barrier. Until they dealt with that issue, Justin knew they couldn’t adequately discuss his work situation.
As he pushed the door shut on his office, Justin exhaled his back leaning against the door. His eyes drifted out toward the window, the grey skies threatening rain. As his gaze lowered, it paused at the desk phone. He shook his head from side to side as he stepped toward the window. A cluster of dark clouds on the horizon began to roll in his direction as he whispered, “bring it on.”
Chapter Ten
Few things in life can't be fixed with a hot cup of coffee and an even warmer cinnamon swirl muffin from Max's. That should be the storefront's slogan, Leslie thought.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the aroma of the coffee causing her to raise her head up and hum.
“Should I leave you and your coffee alone?”
Leslie opened her eyes and laughed. Her friend and fellow business owner Sarah Young stared across the table at her as if expecting a response.
“I’m sorry; I’ve been looking forward to this all day. I just spent four hours in the City Clerk’s office. It’s practically a full-time job keeping up with all of the paperwork associated with a business.”
Sarah stuck her fork into her Caesar salad, “huh, you think you got it bad, you don’t have a storefront. And god forbid if you actually get the municipality as a client like my company. Take what you have and multiply it by five.” Sarah took a bite and quickly wiped her lower lip with her napkin. “Speaking of…., how are things going?”
Leslie nodded and took another sip, “surprisingly well.” She shifted in her seat and leaned forward, pleased that she had connected with Sarah several months back. Their initial professional conversations quickly migrating toward social matters. “Can I run something past you?”
Sarah placed her fork down, “oh my, this sounds like it’s going to be good. Go for it.”
“I don’t know about all of that,” Leslie attempted to downplay the comment, “you’ve been at this for some time now, right?”
Sarah blew a deep breath out her cheek, it expanding like a balloon. “Sheesh yeah, nearly a dozen years now. Dang. And no, it doesn’t ever get easy.”
“Not what I was going to ask,” she said shaking her head, “but good to know.” She paused as their eyes connected to Sarah’s wedding ring, “there are a lot of men in the Chamber.” She began slowly, “quite a few flirts …, have any of them …”
Sharon cut her off with a laugh, “hit on me? Of course, so many I’ve lost count.”
“Really?”
“Am I not worthy?” Sarah joked.
Leslie smacked her on the forearm, “I didn’t mean…”
“Just kidding. Loosen up. We’re both beautiful women. It’s not just the Chamber. Men are men the world over. They are hard-wired, they lose their minds around us beautiful creatures. It doesn’t mean anything. Hell, some of those Chamber events are so mind-numbing dull, flirting is the only way I make it through them.”
Leslie sighed, “really? So it’s not unusual…”
“It would be unusual if someone hadn’t with you. Look at you, always looking like a million bucks. You have that yoga body and don’t get me started on those legs of yours. You put to shame those gals half your age.”
Leslie blushed and leaned forward toward her new best friend. “You ought to stop, but don’t,” she joked.
Sarah giggled, “Let’s see….your kid is grown, so you actually get some sleep at night. No bags under the eyes like poor Laurie Anderson with the newborn twins. She won’t be hit on until those kids are in Kindergarten or she finally realizes that a nanny is totally worth it.” A smirk flashed across her face as she lowered her chin down, staring in at Leslie over the top of her glasses. “Let me guess. Is it Dan Winters? He’s harmless but will hit on anything that comes within ten feet of him.”
Leslie chuckled, “really?”
“Relax, it’s perfectly harmless. You have a good husband, everybody knows that, including the guys. That’s why they flirt. It’s a game. Hell if you ever decide to flirt back, they’d probably crap in their pants. Sort of like when my Abe asked for a threesome twenty years ago.”
Leslie leaned back, her hands crossing at her chest as she muttered, “oh my.”
Sarah adjusted her glasses and continued, “I called his bluff. I said you want a threesome? Why the hell not. He nearly had a heart attack.”
“Did you?”
Sarah glanced over her shoulder and tilted in close as she licked her lower lip.
Leslie pressed forward not wanting a syllable to escape.
“I told him I had been thinking of a threesome too.”
“Really?” Leslie couldn’t believe what she was learning about her friend.
The spark in her eye gave the first hint, her laughter the next, “as far as Abe knew, yes. So I tell him, I’m new to this, how exactly does this work. Do I get to pick out the guy or does he.”
Leslie snorted.
“Exactly.” She leaned back, “As you can imagine, Abe’s reaction was a bit different. Having a guy as the third person had never crossed his mind; men.” She winked.
“And?”
“And nothing. He knew I was deadly serious. He’s never brought up that bullshit ever again.”
Leslie’s knee smacked against
the leg of the table in laughter, her coffee swirling and a small splash escaping into the saucer.
“And that’s how you deal with guys. In their heart, they are still confused, hormone-driven teenagers. Recognize it as a nice compliment and enjoy the moment.”
Sarah took a sip of her coffee as her eyes refused to look away as if waiting for another question. When it didn’t arrive, she dived right back in. “So who’s been misbehaving? Anyone I know, and I know everyone.”
Leslie blotted at the coffee on the table top with her napkin. “No one in particular.” She avoided Sarah’s stare, “I was just wondering.”
“Mmm hum,” Sarah muttered disbelief in her tone.
Leslie, for her part, ignored the comment, her eyes remaining down as she willed herself not to look up out the window toward Peter’s shop.
“Things are good with you and that brilliant husband right?” Sarah continued to fish.
Leslie nodded, almost out of habit. Sarah had proven over the months to be an open book when it came to her life, but Leslie wasn’t so trusting. PTSD from years of PTA bickering and gossiping will cause one to clam up.
Leslie took a deep breath, realizing her life was different now, which meant pushing herself out of her comfort zones. She now ran in different circles, and if she wanted different experiences, she would need to learn to trust. “Well …” She stared down at her coffee cup.
Sarah reached across the table, her well-manicured fingers squeezing the back of her hand.
“We ’ve been there babe, I’m here if you want to talk. Whenever you are ready.”
The soft, supportive words gave Leslie the courage she needed to continue. “Justin and I are great. Meaning, everything is just how it’s always been.” Once she began, Leslie couldn’t believe how quickly the words began to flow out of her mouth. “He is a man of routine. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We both have demanding jobs and were focused on raising our son. After years of us being third and sometimes fourth on the list of priorities it becomes a habit.
Our twice a week connection became once a week, then once every other week, and then ….”
