... and I don't think it's a train heading this way!!
I felt sorry for My Dwight during our meeting yesterday. I could hear sadness in his voice. When asked how he was doing and how things were going, he quickly told me he was "busy." That's his typical response over the years - he's BUSY. Normally he's busier than anyone else in the company and obviously most of his tasks that keep him busy are more complex and more time-consuming than what anyone else is working on. He's a martyr. But this time, rather than ask him what he was busy with, I quickly started inquiring about tasks and results I was needing him to focus on THIS WEEK - like over the next 3 days. With each inquiry, I could hear the sadness getting louder and louder. And his responses became not laden with pride in his busy-ness, but instead his tone was a little more of defeat - "OK - I'll get it done by then." Like a child that had lost a battle.
You see, I really didn't care how "busy" he was. He has several items on his punch list this week that MUST be done THIS week. And he's been farting around for 6 weeks - procrastinating - giving his "busy" excuse and now he's down to the wire. I wasn't mean. I wasn't snarky. I was merely stating the facts firmly about what needed to be done and the deadline. I could also hear a tone of irritation in his voice. As if his tone was yelling out "you're an idiot and you have no clue how busy I am, yet you just keep repeating these deadlines to me." In some ways I was amused - in a sick kind of twisted way. Because for so long he's thrived on presenteeism and being "busy". But now? Not so much a matter of interest to me.
He got nasty with another employee and refused to help some teammates because he was upset about not being chosen to be an administrator for the new phone system. The employee with whom he got nasty pointed out to him that his attitude was not hurting those who had made the decision to not make him an admin on the phone system - but was instead hurting his teammates who were trying to achieve results. I had to laugh. I just wonder how long it will take until he's totally stripped and denied of everything by which he's always defined himself. I wonder if he'll redefine himself in the process or just merely get fed up and walk away. It's a shame he is the way he is. Because it slows us down - this migration and transition to a new way of thinking. He so badly wants to keep everything status quo - and his desire to maintain tradition must be repeated through negative comments over and over to anyone who will listen. Hopefully, now, most are shutting him down or tuning him out.
On a positive note - when I spoke to some other team members yesterday, I did NOT hear the frustration in their voices that I had picked up on two weeks ago. I could hear them moving forward and their conversations were focused around results - how to reach them in certain situations (upcoming wedding, etc). I wasn't hearing the "can't happen because...." - I was hearing requests for coaching on HOW to MAKE IT HAPPEN. That was a nice glimmer of hope!
This morning - off to coffee with my recently retired mom - first time in the 44 years of my life we are spending time together during the week - and neither of us are sick or on maternity leave!!! I feel sad for her - having lost all that time "working" - yet happy for me that I am able to make time for my children - and still meet results!
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