Suzie P./ Linked In
My new CEO called me into his office, asked my to close the door, and said “Oleg, you need to FIRE Alex. He is a TERRIBLE manager.
I get nothing but COMPLAINTS about him. I know you just started here but you have to act fast.” I go to investigate and find out:
1. Alex is extremely competent and nice.
2. He is a new manager who tries to please everyone.
3. Takes on too much work from all corners of the company , works nights and weekends.
4. People who he tries to please don’t see his overall workload. When they don’t get something, they escalate to CEO.
5. They don’t tell CEO all the things they get from Alex, they take that for granted.
I save Alex by
1 Putting him into a different and more interesting position with different stakeholders
2. Explain to him that if he wants to please everyone he should sell ice-cream, that his own team is his first priority, to prioritize and never take on more than he can handle.
3. That I appreciate his dedication, hard work and loyalty to the company. That people like him make the world go around.
Alex got promoted a year later to a more senior position.Appreciate hard work and loyalty.People like Alex are sometimes hard to find.