Jim Clemmer - Moose on the Table: A Novel Approach to Communications @ Work

A NOVEL APPROACH

TO COMMUNICATIONS @ WORK

by

Jim Clemmer

Smashwords Edition

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ALSO BY JIM CLEMMER

THE LEADERS DIGEST

Timeless Principles for Team and OrganizationSuccess

GROWING THE DISTANCE

Timeless Principles for Personal,

Career, and Family Success

PATHWAYS TO PERFORMANCE

A Guide to Transforming Yourself,

Your Team, and Your Organization

FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS

The Service/Quality System for

High-Powered Corporate Performance

THE VIP STRATEGY

Leadership Skills for Exceptional Performance

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PUBLISHED BY:

The Clemmer Group on Smashwords

Moose on the Table

A Novel Approach to Communications @ Work

Copyright 2008 by The Clemmer Group

All rights reserved. The use of any part of thispublication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, or stored in aretrieval system, without the prior written permission of thepublisher is an infringement of the copyright law. Any request forphotocopying, recording, or for storing of informational andretrieval systems of any part of this book should be directed inwriting to Cancopy (Canadian Reprography Collective), 1 YongeStreet, Suite 1900, Toronto, ON M5E 1E5.

Published in 2008 by

Bastian Books

Toronto, Canada

www.bastianbooks.com

A division of Bastian Publishing Services Ltd.

ISBN 978-0-9782221-7-8

Cataloguing in Publication Data available fromLibrary and Archives Canada.

Design and layout: www.WeMakeBooks.ca

Illustrations: William Kimber

Printed in United States of America

Second Printing, 2009

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To Heather, Chris, Jenn, and Vanessa

And to our family, friends, and associates

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Take your shirt off, please, Dr. Yantzi said.Looks like youve put on a few more pounds. Take deepbreaths.

Whoa, that thing is nice and chilled, Pete said.Remember, youre the doctor. Its your job to prevent heartattacks, not deliver them by stethoscope.

Dr. Yantzi continued checking Petes chest. So whatexactly are the symptoms youre experiencing and when did theystart?

About four oclock yesterday morning, I woke up withmy heart racing, chest pain, and some trouble breathing. I got outof bed, took a stiff drink for medicinal purposes and walkedaround the family room for a while. Things seemed to settle down abit after that. Michelle came down and wanted me to go to thehospital, but I was feeling a little better and I had far too muchto do to spend all morning sitting in a crowded emergencyroom.

How are things at work?

Oh, the usual. Same crap, different pile. Ourcompany is sliding into the swamp, and my boss isnt doing anythingabout it.

And home?

Michelles job is fine but we hardly see eachother these days. Amanda is her usual screaming hormonal self, andRyan is off at college drinking his way to the bottom of his class.Other than that, things are just peachy.

Pete looked out the window at the gray sky. A finecold rain blew against the window, leaving beads of water thatoccasionally gathered and raced down the pane. There werent anyclouds, just a mass of dirty drabness hovering overhead. In thedying afternoon light, the leafless branches of the small treebelow were like gray tentacles grasping for the sky.

What made you decide to come see me today?

Last night I hardly slept at all. I was shaky anddizzy and had trouble breathing. I kept having this nightmare ofsome big animal bearing down on me and crushing my chest against atree with its big horns. Michelle finally threatened to do evenworse if I didnt go the hospital or see you today.

You can put your shirt back on, Dr. Yantzi said. Hesat down at his desk, opened a file, and made a few notes. Hemotioned Pete to sit across from him.

I have the lab results from your annual check-uplast month, he said. Youre not exactly ready for the Olympics.Your bad cholesterol is very high, youre about fifty poundsoverweight, and your blood pressure is way up. It also sounds likeyouve got a lot of stress in your life at the moment. How much areyou drinking these days?

I like a glass of wine or beer once in a while.

How often?

Just a couple a day. That couldnt be too far off,Pete thought.

You said youve had a lot of headaches. Are youtaking anything for that?

I take an occasional pain reliever when it gets realbad. A montage of the large bottles in his bedroom, desk, car, andtravel bag flashed before his eyes. He almost reached for a few ofthe pills he always kept in a plastic case in his coat pocket.Michelle called them his stress beans because he ate them likejelly beans.

I noticed in the paper the other day that NMTS ishaving financial problems. That must be adding to your stress atwork, Dr. Yantzi said in a questioning tone.

#

Pete thought back to yesterdays conversation withhis boss, the senior vice president of client services atNewton-Millbank Tech Services. Pete was the head of that divisionsoperations department. His intrepid leader was not one for makingsmall talk. He led off the conversation with: Weve got a problemin this company right now and we need strong leadership from you tokeep your team focused.

Now thats rich, Pete thought. He looked at his bosssitting in his overstuffed fake brown leather chair glaring at himthrough his steel-rimmed glasses the biggest horses ass to everput on a suit and pretend to be a leader, he thought. And now hesgoing to give me lessons? He stared at the large white lettersloudly proclaiming Doug Drake Senior Vice President on thephony gold plaque sitting directly in front of him on Dougsdesk.

Ive been reviewing this years organizationalsurvey results, Doug said, as he picked up a thick report. Littlered cellophane flags stuck out of the report like rectangulartongues. They mocked Pete as Doug waved the report up and down.Trust and communication has really dropped off in your department.No wonder morale is in the basement. Some of the written commentsshow youve got a very unhappy bunch of campers. That clearlyexplains why absenteeism is up and our client service levels suck.Theres obviously a leadership problem here and I think Im lookingat him.

Then Doug paused for dramatic effect. What are yougoing to do about it?

Pete fidgeted with the Doug Drake desk plaque. Well,I I think theres, uh, a lot of misunderstanding in mydepartment. These survey responses are just their perceptions; theyarent reality. People just dont understand how much were doingfor them and just how good they have it as the industry goesthrough this tough time.

Well, let me give you a dose of reality, Mr. PeteLeonard. If we dont turn this company around, we wont make itthrough this tough time either. Last months financials are just inand were sinking deeper into a big pool of red ink. If we dontreverse this trend now, our creditors will pull the plug or sell usto a competitor. Can you see it, Leonard? The vultures arehovering, and its up to you to do something before its feedingtime.

Doug grabbed the report and began pacingmagisterially around his spacious office. ?Your department is thekey to holding on to customers, he said. ?Your service levels haveto improve. I just had a call from Bryon Hammond at Cowersill. Ihope you realize they are one of our best customers. He heard thattheir technician was leaving us. Bryon thinks his tech walks onwater. If he goes, they go with him. With morale levels like theones in your department, were not only going to lose some of ourbest people, were going to lose our best customers.

Doug gave the giggling red tongues another good shakefor good measure. You better get control of your department. Showsome leadership! Let them know whos boss and just how dire thesituation is. Tell them that if they dont start talking to eachother and communicate more, well all drown together when the shipfinally sinks.