Things that make you think

Last week I read "Twelve Months" by Steven Manchester. The premise of the book is a man is diagnosed with cancer and given 12 months to live. It follows his efforts to live a full life to the end while also doing things he long wanted to do, but never had.

While there was definitely a sad overtone, it was a book I enjoyed. After reading it, a thought  crossed my mind- my dad was only 10 years older than I am when he died. This hit me like a ton of bricks. When you're a kid, 10 years seems like a such a long time. And ten years is a long time, especially if you are waiting for something. However, in some ways, it seems so short. My own dad has been gone for 13 years. As my mom said on the anniversary of his death last year, that doesn't seem possible. But when you look back, so much has happened since then.

I'm not planning to die in 10 years. Based on my family health history, I likely have many more years than that. But, my dad didn't plan on dying when he did either. My takeaway is to be more mindful of each day and every interaction in my life. We each only get one life to live, and none of us knows the our expiration date.

Always remember who holds the leverage

One of my family members has given her current employer a very long notice of her intention to leave her job. Her goal was to help successfully transition her role to someone else. Not only has her employer not done anything to facilitate this transfer, she was also treated really poorly by her boss this week over something that isn't even her job. Now, we should always treat people well. However, her boss has totally missed something beyond that- my relative holds all the leverage in this situation. She is the one who's leaving of her own volition. She no longer needs the employer. She can leave any time, and I wouldn't blame her if she decides to go now rather than on her original departure date. She has no reason at all to put up with this.

This reminded me of a similar situation when I left a previous job. At some point during my two week notice period, a member of management said something crazy to me. I literally laughed in the person's face. I don't think that was the reaction the person expected. Why? This person failed to recognize that the typical employee/employer balance of power had undergone a seismic shift. I had all the power. The company had none. This interaction was at least partly behind my decision that I would only answer specific questions about my role before I departed. I'd been at that job over 10 years, and as frequently happens, I was the only one who did it, and all the information about it was in my head. I could have provided a lot of insight before I left, but after the way I was treated, there was no way I was volunteering anything.

When you are trying to get someone to do something, you should always remember who holds the leverage. You then need to frame your approach accordingly. If you hold the leverage, you should be polite, but you can be a bit more demanding. If don't hold the leverage, you need to try to sell the person on the idea. If you try demanding in this instance, not getting what you want may be the least of your problems. You may be get a harsh reminder of who holds the power in the situation along with some very unpleasant repercussions.

Employees are crazy everywhere

People do dumb things at work all the time. The title of today's exhibit makes that obvious:

Kentucky State Police: GM employees arrested after racing new Corvettes in Bowling Green

Some of the highlights from the article include:
- new C8 model Corvettes
- 120 mph clocked speeds
- "detected an odor of alcohol"

I shared this article with my HR team, and they found it highly amusing. The best quote was from our HR Director: "It's always something... But this one is easy."

This week in HR

Humans are interesting creatures. So far this week, we have had 3 shining examples at work.

Human #1
Did a good job answering questions in her interview. Wore a sweater, nice pants, and boots. The only problem- you could see through her loose-knit sweater to her underlying undergarment. FYI, it was black. This is not a good interview look.

Human #2
Showed up for new hire interview on Monday. Was a no call no show yesterday and today. Messages were left for him and his emergency contact with no response. He was fired today for job abandonment.

Human #3
Dropped the f-bomb not once but twice during his interview. Cried during the interview- as in was literally wiping away tears. The questions we asked were in no way tearjerkers, and none of the other candidates we interviewed for this role had this reaction. After the candidate left, two of the interview team members stated the candidate smelled of alcohol.

Three great stories, and it's only Wednesday. As I told my team today, I'm excited to see what Thursday and Friday will bring.