The Letter

Doug,

Now that I have started my new position as a project manager (making way more money!) I felt a need to address the e-mail you sent prior to my "resignation". Though I am aware of the reasons why you sent this letter I can not in good conscious let this go unchallenged.

First, I think it is imperative to recognize that Kathryn is an executive of the Association, which sometimes means juggling priorities or taking extra steps to address her concerns. It's just good politics. I thought we all agreed that a new system was essential for Kathryn, which is why I personally spoke to and convinced her of that necessity.

You are basing this on the presumption that I did not take Kathy's position into consideration. First, I never told her I would not or could not deliver her new laptop. I stated that I would try but could not promise anything in the time allotted (one day). At that time I knew I had to go to the doctor and could not foresee that I would have to go home due to extreme pain. What I find glaringly absent in this letter is your complete lack of responsibility and complicity in this situation. You state quite clearly that you had a conversation with Kathy about her laptop but you had no such conversation with me. This put me in an impossible situation. How long ago was this conversation? What did you promise her? I have no idea.

After she returned from her trip, you should have taken every step to make sure that all elements of the setup were configured and functioning properly.(How could you overlook the new Toshiba network printer and dialup software, especially given the fact that she had raised issues regarding both on her previous laptop?)

As for the events that followed I wanted to deliver Kathy's computer as quickly as I could but informed her that I had more settings and configurations to do but had to complete them while she was logged in. I'm sure you are aware of profile specific settings. Yes, I do admit that I had difficulty with the modem and apologized profusely for a mis-communication we had regarding her departure day to New York. Oddly enough, she wasn't even going to take her laptop until I strongly recommended that she take it!

You downplayed the situation at our weekly meeting in spite of the growing frustration between the two of you, and it wasn't until her next trip that you contacted me with an update.

This is obviously a matter of perspective. I believed I gave a proper update at the meeting with the knowledge that I had. You seem to be much more privy to what was going on with Kathy than I was. I told you in a private phone call what had transpired. I could go on but I believe you get the picture.

Doug you have failed as a manager and a leader time and time again in ways that are quite intolerable. You seem to be much more concerned with pleasing upper management than you are with the well being of your own team and that is inexcusable as a leader. I am able to speak from many years as a manager, supervisor and non-commissioned officer in the service. In all positions I was charged with leading and managing a team. A duty I do not take lightly. All of which I have taken leadership and managerial training courses and abide by standard leadership principles.

Doug, I lost confidence in you as a leader over a year ago when I requested 2 hours of comp time for having to stay later than expected one weekday evening. You mis-interpreted my e-mail and instead of calling me to clarify the issue your (poor) decision was to have Travis discuss this with me. If you had time to talk to him you certainly had time to talk to me. You have a 'Do as I say, not as I do' policy. You made it a point to inform the team that prior to making any changes on the network that we should inform everyone on the team but this never applies to you. When I was the lead on the AD project you took it upon yourself to implement policy changes on AD without even notifying me. That's beside the fact that you completely took over the project. At our last conference in New York when we were all out for dinner you began talking quite negatively about Karen while she wasn't there in front of Chris, Kurt and me. I can not speak for anyone else but I was highly disturbed by this. This type of conversation is best kept among your peers and not your staff. You also showed quite clearly where I fit into your priority list when you visited Chicago. A visit that I urged you to make during my review. You spent an entire week here and had lunch, dinner and whatever with everyone else BEFORE you asked me out to lunch on the Friday you were leaving.

But let me go beyond the issues that you and I have, Doug.

Steve,

If you really want to do a proper operational revue then you must recuse yourself of the duty as reviewer. With your position as the personnel director you must realize that any data you are collecting is tainted. Though you state profusely that your review does not mean people will lose their jobs do you honestly believe others see it that way? My case is a perfect example of why your data is tainted. Because you are close with both Doug and Kathy I could not be forthcoming with these issues. Do you honestly think others in the organization are as forthcoming? I could only make these statements once removed from retribution. I also felt it necessary to do so because I believe there are a lot of good people working at Equity unfortunately they are being subjected to poor management. Who's doing the operational review on the managers I wonder? One thing I must share with you regarding Kathy is her complete lack of concern for other's well being and something I will never forget. I stood in her office informing her of my progress on her new laptop and that I was in a lot of pain which required surgery and needed to go home. I was leaning on her chair and could barely stand. Not only did she not acknowledge my condition but brought up a computer issue she was having with her modem which she had not shared with me prior to that moment. This is the kind of person you have leading the staff in the Central Regional office.

Steve, you stated a while ago that you are tired of firing people all the time. Here is the answer to the question why so many people are being fired. The main reason a manager has to fire a staff member often has less to do with the staff member and more to do with the manager. Ask yourself if you have been a good leader. Are you setting a good example? Have you been honest, trustworthy? Do you know your staff? Are you concerned with their well being? Does the staff feel a sense of responsibility? Are you providing the tools necessary for the staff to do their job effectively? Are you communicating effectively with your staff? If you answer no to any of these questions then you not and effective leader and you are not doing your job. These are just some leadership traits. There are many more.

I believe that all experiences are life lessons and I can say without a doubt that I have learned several lessons while at Equity that I will take to heart.

Regards,

Paul Thompson

"A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops."
-- Gen. John J. Pershing

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Beebe, Doug
> Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2005 2:01 PM
> To: Thompson, Paul
> Subject: Laptop Follow Up
>
> Hi Paul,
>
> I wanted to follow up on the recent events involving Kathryn's laptop
> and offer some constructive feedback. I certainly appreciate the
> challenges we all face when dealing with different personalities and
> circumstances, however I feel like you could have taken steps to avoid
> some of the problems you experienced during the rollout of her system.
>
> First, I think it is imperative to recognize that Kathryn is an
> executive of the Association, which sometimes means juggling
> priorities or taking extra steps to address her concerns. It's just
> good politics. I thought we all agreed that a new system was
> essential for Kathryn, which is why I personally spoke to and
> convinced her of that necessity. It might have been more appropriate
> of you to inform her pro-actively of the laptop's arrival and offer a
> timeline for its deployment. If you had any hesitancy about the new
> system, you should have involved me. Instead, I was approached by Kathryn and had to intercede with a request to "step-up" the
> rollout. We were already in a defensive position at that point. After
> she returned from her trip, you should have taken every step to make
> sure that all elements of the setup were configured and functioning properly.
> (How could you overlook the new Toshiba network printer and dialup
> software, especially given the fact that she had raised issues
> regarding both on her previous laptop?) You downplayed the situation
> at our weekly meeting in spite of the growing frustration between the
> two of you, and it wasn't until her next trip that you contacted me
> with an update. And although I understood the challenges you faced
> due to your pending surgery (see below), even that conversation came
> off as passing the blame entirely on to Kathryn. I'm sorry I cannot
> agree with that assessment, and was disappointed that you seemed to
> miss an obvious opportunity to learn from your mistakes.
>
> I realize that your foot injury and subsequent surgery was an
> unfortunate and coincidental aspect of this issue. But sometimes
> unforeseen circumstances arise in both our professional and personal
> lives, and we have no choice but to address them as they occur. Had
> the laptop issue not been allowed to snowball, it might have been
> easier to handle both without compromising your own well-being or
> damaging your professional reputation.
>
> I hope your surgery was a success and that you're recovering without
> too much pain or discomfort.
>
> Doug

Movie Review Tuesday

Now that I have all this time on my hands before I start my new job I thought I would have one of my famous movie days. It was unofficial double feature Tuesday (I snuck into the second feature) and my choices were Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Madagascar. Personally, I think Brad is hot but a dog for leaving Jennifer. I also think Angelina is just a mediocre talented ho whose lips are so big she could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch (no wonder Brad likes her!) but I will say that their chemistry worked great in this movie. I think I fainted several times because Brad took his shirt off. And that Angelina was too hot in one scene in which she was a dominatrix. You go girl! Beat that man's ass! So these two are trying to save their lack luster marriage by going to a marriage counselor. Each are unaware that their spouse is an assassin until they are both charged with killing each other. OK, let's stop right there. These two could have saved a ton of money on therapy sessions (and repairs on that beautiful house!) if they had just been truthful with each other. Doesn't anyone read Dear Abby anymore? Remember, always be truthful with your mate especially if you are a hired assassin! I give this one three kitty treats.

Madagascar... What can I say? I would rather say nothing per my mamma's teachings. If I don't have anything good to say blah,blah, blah. You know the drill. But let me pull a tiger out of my ass here. This movie is about a bunch of animals in a New York zoo. The Zebra played by Chris Rock wants to go to the wild and through a series of crazy situations the Lion (Ben Stiller), The Giraffe (David Schwimmer) and the Hippo (Jada Smith) all end up in Madagascar. Those guys were OK but I loved the psychotic penguins. The lead penguin (Tom McGrath) had me rolling on the floor. And those crazy lemurs led by King Julian (Sacha Baron Cohen) were also very funny. Ben Stiller was way over the top and seriously needs a valium. Also, the story was LAME! So I can only give this movie one and a half kitty treats. Wait for the rental.

Between a Rock And A Hard Place

I have been totally negligent in my duty and for that I apologize. I have been so wrapped up in my own personal world that I have not devoted enough time to bashing this administration. It looks like Americans may finally be waking up from a long sleep of illusion that the war in Iraq had anything to do with the reasons we invaded that country. Apparently a Washington Post/ABC News poll report shows that support for the war in Iraq is waning and in a big way. A majority of people are even saying that the war in Iraq isn't helping the security in the US. No shit! I wonder what made these people's neurons suddenly fire and put 2 and 2 together? All I can say is that it took long enough! Let's look at the numbers, shall we?

• Over $170 Billion dollars in costs (It was only supposed to cost $50 billion. Talk about cost overruns!!)
  
• Over 1800 US and UK troops killed (Over 12,000 wounded. The majority occurred after Bush declared the war was over!)
  
• Over 22,000 Iraqi civilians (non-insurgent) killed (The news never mentions these numbers)
• 238 attacks on Iraqi Pipelines since the beginning of the war.
  

And of course the list goes on and on. Ladies and gentlemen, we are in an impossible situation. We can't stay and we can't leave. What do we do now?! I don't propose to have the answers but it does pain me that a lot of good people are loosing their lives and livelihood for...? I'm not even sure!! Maybe one of you has the answer to why we are there and how we can get out. If you do please send your recommendations to the White House care of Dick Cheney. We need to go right to the top with this. No time messing around with underlings!

Happy Days are Here Again!

Yes, happy days are here again and I'm singing a song of cheer again. You shouldn't even have to ask why but I will tell you anyway. I have secured a position as a project manager working for ValCom which has the exclusive IT support contract for Grainger. It seems amazing that I was able to get a job within two weeks after getting canned from Equity. To be fair I have been looking for quite some time but my job search definitely went into overdrive once I was let go. Many of you remember my dark days of 2002. Nothing I care to repeat in the next two lifetimes. I was unemployed for 14 months, depleted my severance, on my last unemployment check and no real prospects for work. I was saved from total abject poverty when my good friend Luther helped me get a position with Actors' Equity. Well, we know what happened after that.

This time around the job market has been much friendlier. I probably had six or more interviews in the past two weeks! I was lucky to get one interview in two weeks back in the dark days! And the second interview with ValCom/Grainger was the weirdest. I was on the highway coming back from the suburbs when the hiring manager called me and wanted to do a phone interview instead of face to face because it was difficult to get the other interviewers together. I couldn't say no. I had to strike while the iron was hot. Basically I had a conference call interview with four people while driving down I-290. I kept thinking I should get off the highway but things were going so well I figured why jinx it! Oh, and the best part is the money. I'm not going to kiss and tell but I will be getting a 47% increase in salary compared to the old job. I do believe I am finally coming out of that awful fiscal and emotional depression. So sing with me...Happy days are here again. The skies above are clear again. So let's sing a song of cheer again. Happy days are here again!!

Matching Feet!

I finally had surgery on my other foot. Yes, I had to have both of them done. This surgery went much better for me than the first one. Obviously because I knew the drill and was much more relaxed. The only trauma I experienced the whole day was the drive to the surgery center with my dad! That man made my blood pressure go up several times yesterday. He's a typical septuagenarian. He's been driving since Christ was a baby and he lets you know at every turn. But as you and I know the vision ain't what it used to be, the reaction time ain't what it used to be and let's face it he ain't what he used to be. But that should be expected. I try my best not to yell and to be supportive. I'm also holding on to the dashboard with white knuckles!

When I finally got home I was watching TV with my foot jacked up on a pillow and a bag of ice on it to reduce the swelling. I also had a fan pointing directly on me but I was still sweating bullets. I could not imagine sleeping with that level of discomfort so I made a command/impulse decision to buy a new air conditioner for my bedroom. Best damn decision I've made all year! Although I already had one in the basement that thing was a beast and an energy hog. When I would turn it on the lights in the whole apartment would go dim. Yikes on that electric bill! My neighbor Eddie was kind enough to go with me and do all the heavy lifting. Thank you so much Eddie!!! I owe you big time! I slept like a baby. Well, until the cat woke me up at 5:30AM! Damn that cat!! Once I'm up, I'm up. So I've been e-mailing and chatting online all morning. Yesterday I got up at the same time and started cleaning the apartment. Cleaning the apartment at 5:30AM?! OMG!! That's just fucking sick!!!! I think I need help. Does anyone have the name of a good therapist?!

Hallelujah!! Can I get an Amen?!

It is truly a new day. I feel free from that oppressive job and my prospects are good! Knock on wood. I don't want to jinx anything! Don't you like the new page? I fixed it up just for you all! As you can see, I have reverted back to one of my old blogs. I don't think I've submitted an entry in almost 2 years. Right after I started the IT position at Equity, hmm... That truly was a dark place for me. But now that Carol Ann has shown me the light I am on the road to a brighter day.

On another note, I got the TEN! stitches out of my toe yesterday. My goodness, it looks awful! Like some kind of Frankenstein scar. No sandals for me this summer unless I'm wearing socks. Yuck! I hate wearing socks with sandals. I think I'm becoming my dad! Yikes!! I figure I'm still good. I have not totally made the transformation to the dark side. There are still many quirks my dad has that (god pray) I will never adopt. Cheap cigar smoking would be at the top of that list. Anyway, I will be having surgery on my other foot next week. Isn't that the way life is. After being down and out and on your last leg you are able to get back on both feet then someone comes along and chops off the other leg! Remember, it's not only how you fall but if you can get back up. Me thinks I've been getting back up a lot lately!