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Remember that old saying "cheaters never prosper"? Well, I don't like to be pessimistic but it seems to me that cheaters do prosper. Actually, the more of a cheater you are the easier it seems to be to advance in life. The more you dedicate yourself to honesty and being forthright the harder it is to accomplish worldly success. Or at least that's what personal experience has taught me.
Lately I've been looking back over my work experiences for the last 6 or 7 years and have come to the conclusion that I would probably be a lot further ahead in life if I was more dishonest. Why? Well, I've quit two jobs and been fired from one for coming into conflict with management during those years and those conflicts have usually been either partially or totally about ethical issues.
The first job I quit was because the manager there was a truly unpleasant individual. For one thing he was always telling racist and sexist jokes. These weren't aimed at me usually but I still found them offensive. Additionally, he basically treated you as if he owned you, always getting you to do him errands and favours on your own, unpaid, time. Plus, he was actually engaged in illegal activity. For example, he once approached me to sell black market satellite TV systems on his behalf and there were rumours of more serious criminal activity. Consequently, not only did I dislike working for him because he behaved in an oppressive manner towards his employees but I felt "dirty" just being associated with him and so I eventually quit.
Another job that I quit was due to the drinking of the manager. This particular manager several times showed up at work intoxicated and then drove off in their vehicle. The first time this happened I took my complaint to the manager in question and voiced my concerns. At first I was literally told to "shut up" but, when I refused to do so, they backed down. I had hoped that this had solved the issue and that the manager wouldn't be driving drunk anymore, or at least wouldn't be doing so in my presence, but it happened again and so I decided to quit because I didn't want to have to deal with such stupid, immoral and illegal behaviour on a recurring basis. In hindsight I should've phoned the police and reported it too but, at the time, I was still a little intimidated by management figures and so didn't take it that far.
My third serious confrontation with management occurred when I was working at a hotel. It started when I learned that the hotel was in violation of some provisions of the FIre Code. At first I took these concerns to management but they didn't do anything. So, I brought my concerns up again and again, until eventually I was told to just drop the matter. I wasn't willing to do that though so I made a complaint to the Fire Safety Inspector at the local fire department and, as one can imagine, that soured relations with management from that point onwards.
Relations with management deteriorated further following two further incidents that occurred some months after I made my complaint to the fire department. Firstly, there was an incident where we had a children's sports team staying at the hotel and a number of the parents decided to drink alcohol in the lobby (and, if I recall correctly, they were also gambling although I can't be sure of that detail now since my memory is starting to fade). In any case, I told them several times to stop what they were doing but they wouldn't listen so I told them, if they didn't stop their drinking, I would call the police and have them ticketed for consuming alcohol in public. That worked and they cleared off, although not before I received some angry looks, colourful language and even some veiled threats of bodily harm.
Following that incident management received a number of complaints about me from members of this group. I was given a written disciplinary notice. Basically it said that I was too confrontational with the guests and, if I recall, it also said that I should've consulted with management first before taking any action. I was rather annoyed at this disciplinary write-up since I'd worked there for years and never received even verbal discipline before so I didn't think it was particularly fair for them to jump right to written discipline, especially since they'd done so before even speaking with me to get my side of the story. Still, although I hated to admit it, I knew that I probably had been a little more confrontational than I should've been because, to be honest, I was in a bad mood when I dealt with the team on that occasion so I probably came across as more authoritarian than I should've. I didn't raise my voice or swear or make threats of physical harm like some of the members of the team did but I had to admit I was somewhat more confrontational than I should've been so I admitted that I had been partially in the wrong and apologized. Still, I suspect that the only reason the general manager proceeded to written discipline in this case was because he was already biased against me due to my earlier complaint to the fire department.
After that came one final incident a couple of months later. It was a very hot summer day and a guest decided to leave their dog in their vehicle. The window was open a crack and it was partially in the shade but it was such a hot day that I was concerned and so I phoned the SPCA and asked their advice. They told me that it was too hot for a dog to be left in a vehicle and that I should try to contact the owner and get them to take the animal out of the vehicle or they would have to come up and forcibly remove it, breaking into the vehicle if necessary. I then proceeded to do my best to locate the owner of the pet, which took me a while, but, in the end the guest voluntarily removed the pet from the vehicle and it wasn't necessary for the SPCA to seize it.
About a week after the incident with the dog I was fired by the hotel's general manager. The reason he gave was, essentially, that I was too confrontational with the guests and he cited the incidents with the team and the dog as examples. I was really rather upset at this, especially when he claimed that the incident with the dog was part of the reason for my dismissal. I had been partly in the wrong with the incident involving the team, although I didn't see it as sufficient grounds for dismissal or even probably a written disciplinary notice, but, as far as I was concerned, I had done absolutely nothing wrong in having the guest remove their dog from the vehicle.
Since I was being dismissed without just cause they had to pay me 8 weeks' severance pay (the rule of thumb for severance pay for non-managers is 2 weeks of pay for every year of service and I had been there 4 years) and I managed to find another job in less than 2 weeks that, ironically, paid more, so I didn't suffer financially but it still hurt and it still bothers me to this day. Anyhow, so what's my point in all this? Well, my point is that standing up for your principles can be harmful to your career.
If your boss is doing something dishonest, immoral or illegal and you challenge them on it you're walking on dangerous ground. From the perspective of self-interest it would be better to keep your mouth shut and your head down and just go with the flow. However, that means compromising your integrity too so, in the end, you sometimes have to decide what's more important to you, your character or your paycheque and be willing to take a financial hit in order to maintain your integrity.
Or perhaps I'm just too self-righteous. I don't know. I know that sometimes I offend people by being honest and telling them what I really think. I don't intend to get into conflicts with people but sometimes I do, just by being honest. I guess the key is to be honest but diplomatic, which is a difficult thing to do, but I'm working on it. |
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Posted by hairytoad2005 on 2008-02-27 04:44:06 | Rating: | Views: 118
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It is never "self righteous" when you do what you believe to be the right or good thing. But, I agree, learning to be "diplomatic" is a very helpful strategic skill when walking the sometimes "minefield" of human relationships. RDR
PS: Good on you for standing up for principles.
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Posted by RevDrRon
on 2008-02-27 07:41:01
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A good read man, I quit my last job because management was so far up their own butts. Which kinda doesn't help when they make you follow code and they don't do it themselves....
MacDonalds is a b*tch
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Posted by TheBoneCollector
on 2008-02-28 01:38:39
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You'd have a blast in my place, man.
Look-Abraham Lincoln once said that the guy who worked for himself last year, might wind up working for himself this year, and next year, might be successful enough to hire people to work for him.
Perhaps it's time to go into business for yourself. Put that focus of yours to good use...
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Posted by Knoxxie03
on 2008-03-01 18:57:43
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Yeah, I've considered starting my own business but I'm not sure I have enough education to do that.. not to mention start up capital. But I'm looking into options for what do with my life from this point on.. go to university and get a degree in something, get in shape and apply for the police or army, etc. A little late for me to be making career choices, should've done that 10 years ago, but I guess better late than never.
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Posted by hairytoad2005
on 2008-03-02 09:28:36
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