a shockey storey

photo credit: jenn_jenn

Once upon a time there was a promising young lad entering the big time. He had a bit of a temper, but he was extraordinarily gifted at his business and was sought after by one company after another. He came on board with several other young promising lads, and combined with the older leaders of the company where he began work, the executives expected great things of him.

From the beginning, though, the lad had trouble. He grumbled about his responsibilities. First he had too many for such a young lad, then the wrong kind for such a promising lad, and then too few for such a talented lad. Nothing was ever his fault – his teammate didn’t give him the reports he wanted, the manager of the team didn’t give him the right types of work, the head of the company just didn’t click with him (but never the other way around).

But one year, things got even worse. The lad moaned and complained and the whole company suffered. Then tragedy struck – the lad fell ill and it turned out he wouldn’t be able to work on the big sale that was coming up that year. As he sat on the sidelines, his colleagues rallied and the slow unassuming lad who took his place did what was needed and didn’t complain. His colleagues were so pleased not to hear the incessant whining and complaining that they rallied and had an unbelievable year. They won one big sale after another, finally defeating even the Foxboro, Massachusetts branch in landing the biggest customer of the year.

So you would think the young lad would learn his lesson, and come back humbled. Without him, his colleagues had rallied to take the lead in their company.  The young manager of the team had become a true leader, and they had succeeded beyond all expectations.  They were happy… except that they dreaded the young lad’s return. He complained and fought with the managers, all before he had started back to work.

Finally, the company had enough. They transferred him to New Orleans in exchange for some muffalettas and daquiris for the next Cinco de Mayo party. Relaxed and relieved to be rid of the gifted, talented young lad who nevertheless simply never fit in and never worked as part of the team, they prepared for another run at the big sale.

And the moral of the story…

Don’t be your company’s Jeremy Shockey.