The corporate lawyer laid out the evidence to me that his boss was planning to fire him. The replacement had been hired already. He’d been pushing into a corner, isolated and sidelined. Despite a long relationship with the boss — the sense of betrayal was taking its toll in many ways. The more he thought about it, the more evidence appeared.
The question which needed asking was — have you asked him? Although it sounds so obvious it is amazing how often this question is avoided. Taking the courage to ask the boss what is really going on usually quickly dispels the fantasy of assumptions that have built up. This lawyer had actually backed himself into a corner.
Reason quickly took hold and he asked the right questions of the right person. As is so often the case, fact was far different from fiction. Result: one very happy lawyer!
Before you let intrigue and fantasy take over — ask yourself some questions…
- What assumptions are you making?
- What alternatives could there be?
- How would they benefit from each option?
- Are you fantasising the worst case?
- Why not just ask them?