SAM'S DILEMMA

Friday, 6:46 p.m.

When he dreamed about retirement, Sam had imagined that one day he'd leave this company with his flags flying high. Retirement would be the exclamation point at the end of his career. But tonight, Sam wasn't feeling any of that. As he climbed into his car, he loosened his belt buckle. He had to do something about this weight, which was just one more thing to stress about.

He glanced at his reflection in the rearview mirror. The man he saw looking back at him was definitely not riding the waves of success. He looked absolutely drained. As he drove home from work, fighting Friday night traffic, he wondered if he could even make it through the next couple of weeks, let alone until retirement. Staring at the endless taillights in front of him, he ruminated over the tough week that had just ended and decisions that loomed in the week ahead.

First had come the news that his team had missed their targets for the third straight quarter. But that was nothing compared to what had happened next. Jerry, one of the warehouse supervisors and a star performer, walked into Sam's office just as Sam was wrapping up the day. When Sam saw him coming, he grabbed the report, thinking surely Jerry could help him come up with ideas to boost the fulfillment numbers.

But something was off. Jerry wasn't his usual lighthearted self. In fact, he looked nervous. Trying to lighten the moment, Sam said, "What's up—worried about the game tonight? Afraid your team is going to lose?"

That's all it took. Jerry blurted it right out. He had gotten another job offer, and he'd accepted it.

Jerry went on to explain that there were several reasons why he'd taken it. The offer was one he couldn't refuse. It was more money, a shorter commute, and better hours. And then, as quickly as Jerry had come in, he left.

As Sam sat in stunned silence, he wondered if there was more to it. Over the past six months, he'd been pushing Jerry harder than usual. The warehouse wasn't making its numbers, and Jerry was the only one he could rely on to get the work out. The other supervisors just didn't seem to have the drive anymore, unable to light a fire under their teams so they'd accomplish what had to get done. Jerry did. Jerry was Sam's go-to guy, the one man who could always pull a rabbit out of his hat.

But now Jerry was leaving. Sam worried about how he would manage without him. And in the back of his mind, Sam couldn't help wondering if Jerry was leaving because of him. Sam was familiar with the saying, "People don't quit the company; they quit their boss." In Jerry's case, was that true? Sam had planned on giving him a raise when it was review time, but what did that matter now? Jerry was also the only one on the team who could have stepped into Sam's job when he retired in four years. Now what was he going to do? With Jerry gone, Sam was left with a broken, unmotivated team.

Thankfully, Jerry had given two weeks' notice. That would buy a little time to find a replacement. But who? How could he replace someone like Jerry?

Tiny raindrops spattered the windshield. Sam flicked his wipers on slow speed. It hadn't always been like this. He remembered joining the company straight out of school. He'd had big dreams about his career back then and soon realized that he'd need a degree to make those dreams come true. So as soon as he was eligible for the company's tuition reimbursement program, Sam had enrolled part time at the local college. Six and a half years later, he had his degree in supply-chain management and his first promotion. He was on his way.

Twenty-five years and several promotions later, Sam's dream had become a reality. He was made manager of the largest parts warehouse in the company.

The raindrops were getting larger, and with them Sam faced a growing realization. Instead of spending his last years with the company reveling in his accomplishments, he was drearily counting down the days to retirement. Not exactly what he'd planned.

It was pouring hard by the time Sam pulled into the driveway. The battery in his garage door opener chose today to go dead, forcing him to make a mad dash through the rain to the front door. Sam stood dripping in the foyer for a moment, catching his breath. He listened. The house was empty. He knew he was late. The traffic jam had been unrelenting. But he'd avoided the accident that had fouled up everyone's Friday night commute, and that was some consolation. He found a note on the table from his wife, telling him she was out running errands and that he'd find his dinner in the oven.

Sam grabbed his dinner and a Heineken from the fridge and headed for the patio. The rain had stopped, but a bank of dark clouds to the west still threatened. He poked at the food, not really hungry. Pushing the plate aside and taking a long sip from the green bottle, he contemplated what to do about Jerry. As much as he tried to focus on a solution, he couldn't avoid going back to that nagging question: "Is Jerry quitting me?"

Sam recalled some of the managers he'd had in his past. Some were real pieces of work. The last guy he'd reported to was a complete jerk, a yeller who constantly told people they were idiots. Sam had promised himself that when he became manager, he would never treat people that way. And when he did get the promotion, he tried hard to be one of the guys.

But in time, some of his team had begun taking advantage of Sam's easygoing spirit. Performance numbers started to slip, so he had to get a little tougher. But at his very worst, he was nothing like the prior manager. Of that he was sure. He got frustrated at times, and occasionally he lost his temper, but didn't everyone? The warehouse could be a pressure cooker sometimes. He always went back and made amends once he'd calmed down. The truth was, sometimes he had to lay down the law to get the guys in gear.

Sam admitted he was at a total loss for what to do. And without food, the beer was going straight to his head. He couldn't concentrate. He grabbed his untouched plate and the empty beer bottle and headed inside as the second wave of rain began to pound the deck.

Gloom hung over Sam for the remainder of the weekend. On Monday morning, he dragged himself into the office. No sooner had he sat down and started going through his e-mail when he heard a tap on his door. Looking up from the monitor, he saw Reggie leaning in his doorway. Reggie was Sam's boss, the regional manager. This is all I need today, Sam thought, convinced that Reggie had arrived to grill him about his lackluster production numbers.

He was wrong. Reggie came in and sat opposite him. His manner was surprisingly pleasant for someone who was about take Sam to task for another period of poor results. "How are you doing?" Reggie asked genuinely. "I heard the news about Jerry and wanted to come talk to you about your plans for filling his position."

Sam was amazed. How had Reggie heard about Jerry? Who else knew? Was Sam the last to know?

Sighing, Sam replied, "Yeah, Jerry's announcement came as a real shocker. He dropped it on me Friday night." Trying to be upbeat, Sam continued, "He's giving us a two-week notice, so I need to get the job posted right away."

Reggie eyed him.

"Honestly, I'm a little concerned that it's going to take a lot longer than two weeks to fill those shoes," Sam confessed. "Jerry was my best guy."

Reggie was thoughtful. "Do you have anyone else on the crew who can be moved over?" he asked.

Sam hesitated to answer, not wanting to admit he didn't have anyone in mind. Grooming folks to fill future positions was a big thing to Reggie. Sam had always planned to do it, but the production numbers had taken most of his attention. He'd had the best intentions, but now the worm had turned. He had no one to blame but himself.

Sam felt trapped. There never seemed to be enough time to get everything done no matter how many hours he worked. He pushed back against the feeling of being overwhelmed. He still had time. The best laid plans, he thought. He hadn't planned on retiring for another four years, and by then Jerry would have been ready to move up to the role of manager. He'd never imagined that Jerry wouldn't be there, that the man would just up and quit. Now there was a huge gap in his team and no one to fill it.

But Reggie had asked a direct question, and it required a straight answer. Finally, he told Reggie, "No, I don't have anyone who is close to being ready. I'll probably have to go outside to fill the job."

Reggie was quiet for a while. When a few moments had passed, he leaned forward in his chair and asked, "What's going on, Sam?"

Sam, dumbfounded, was unsure how to respond. He felt a thin layer of sweat rising on the back of his neck. Was Reggie kidding? Wasn't it obvious what was "going on"? Sam wasn't hitting his numbers, he'd lost his best guy, and he'd just had to admit to his regional manager that he hadn't been successful in developing his people—one of Reggie's top priorities. Sam had never looked like a bigger failure. He knew it, and now his boss knew it too.

Reggie's question hung in the stuffy air. Sam's office sat at the top of the stairs on the second floor. It was his habit to keep the blinds open so that he had an unobstructed view of the activity on the warehouse floor. Although Reggie had closed the door after coming in, people walking past could glance through the glass and see the two men locked in conversation.

Before Sam could offer anything in his own defense, Reggie spoke again. "Sam," he said, "What I really want to say is I realize that I haven't been a very good leader. I want to apologize."

Sam couldn't believe his ears. He was glad that Reggie wasn't reprimanding him, but what was he talking about? Reggie was a great leader. In fact, Sam tried to imitate Reggie more than any manager he'd ever known. "Are you kidding me?" Sam blurted. "You don't have anything to apologize for. I should apologize for letting you down. You were the one who really pushed to get me this job, and look how I've paid you back. Our numbers are down, and I just lost the one guy who had any potential. And to top it all off, I have no clue how to turn this around besides posting Jerry's job, crossing my fingers, and hoping for the best. I've been wracking my brain all weekend long, and that's the best I can give you. I'm afraid things are going to get worse here before they get better."

"Perhaps," Reggie answered, but he didn't seem to share Sam's worst-case prognosis. "I'm going to work with you on turning this around," he said. "I feel responsible because I failed to give you the training and support you needed when you took this job."

Sam was about to object, but he let it ride. Besides, Reggie didn't seem as troubled by his own failure as Sam was by his.

Reggie continued, "I have some other appointments this morning, but let's block out time this afternoon to work on a strategy together. I'll be back here at two." He rose to go, but before he opened the office door, he turned back to Sam, smiled, and said, "Oh, and Sam? Chin up. It's not the end of the world. You're going to land on your feet, and I'll be right there with you. See you in a couple hours."

Sam leaned back in his chair and watched his boss disappear down the hallway. In the fifteen minutes since Reggie had walked in, his whole world had done a 180. Nothing had been solved. In fact, nothing had changed at all. He still had to fill Jerry's job and figure out how to improve his production numbers with one less person on the team. What had changed is that he no longer felt alone.

He tackled his calendar and quickly reorganized his day to free up the afternoon. He definitely wanted to be focused when Reggie came back.

The morning blew by. Sam contacted HR, working with Sarah to pull the warehouse superintendent job description and get it posted. He then called together his other three warehouse supervisors and talked about how they would cover Jerry's team until a replacement could be found. They'd all known Jerry was leaving. It seemed like everyone knew Jerry was leaving. Again, Sam wondered if he'd been the last to know. But he couldn't let that distract him. Right now, his priority was getting his remaining guys to take on the extra work necessary to hit the numbers and cover Jerry's team.

To say they were less than enthusiastic would have been an understatement. He could hear them grumbling as they filed out of his office. What's wrong with employees today? Sam wondered. In his earlier years, Sam would have seen this challenge as an opportunity to really shine, to stand out. Not these guys. They seemed put out that they had to work a little harder for the company, and especially for Sam. He also worried about pushing them too hard. What if more people quit? What would he do then?

At exactly 2:00 p.m., Reggie was back in Sam's office. "What's going on?" asked Reggie.

Sam jumped in his seat, startled. He hadn't even heard Reggie come in. Wanting to seem like he was now on top of things, Sam said, "I met with my guys on how we're going to cover things until Jerry's replacement can be found." His frustration was evident as he went on, "They didn't seem too thrilled to be taking on the extra workload."

Reggie let out a soft "Hmm."

Sam continued in damage-control mode. "I did contact HR today. They'll post the job listing internally for three days and then expand the search outside the company." He desperately wanted Reggie to see that he had this under control. But he wondered why he'd told Reggie about the negative reaction from his team. If he was trying to make it look like he was back in charge, adding that unfortunate detail didn't help his case.

If Reggie was annoyed, he didn't show it. "Great," he said. "Getting the job posted is priority number one. But that's the easy part." Sam wondered what was coming next. Reggie said, "Tell me about how you shared the news with your guys and specifically what their response was."

So the two men spent time talking about how Sam had presented the information to his three warehouse supervisors. They discussed the fact that Sam had not invited Jerry to the meeting. Sam tried to explain his rationale. Jerry had already decided he was leaving. He'd given his notice. Therefore, Jerry was no longer key to the discussion.

Reggie leaned back in his chair. "Sam, this is where we need to begin. Let's think about how that meeting could have gone a little differently."

Sam stiffened at Reggie's criticism.

"For any of this to work," Reggie said, "you'll need to agree to be open to my coaching and not get defensive, okay? I'm not trying to put the blame on you or anyone else."

With that, Sam relaxed a little.

"I want to use this meeting with your guys as a learning opportunity," Reggie went on. "You're going to have a lot more meetings with your guys. There are things that could be done a little differently that will make those future meetings more successful. My only objective is to set you up for success going forward. Are you up for this?"

Sam still felt defensive, but replied, "I guess. Let's give it a shot."

Reggie smiled. "Okay. Let's start with not including Jerry in your meeting this morning. What made you not invite him?"

"Well," said Sam, "I know this team has to hold it together without Jerry, so it made sense to me to have them begin now." But Sam knew the real reason: he resented Jerry for resigning and didn't want to deal with him. If Jerry hadn't quit, all Sam would have had to worry about right now was the production numbers.

"Your reasoning makes sense on the surface," Reggie responded, "but remember that these guys have worked with Jerry for years. They've become friends. Because of your exclusion of Jerry, your guys probably came in with a negative attitude in the first place."

Reggie was right. Sam recalled the way the meeting had started. Two of his guys had been sitting in chairs, leaning back with their arms crossed. The other one had been standing off to the side, and his arms had been crossed too. Everything about their body language and facial expressions should have signaled that there was a problem, but Sam had been so focused on getting the meeting done before he met with Reggie, he hadn't taken time to notice the signs.

Reggie was moving on. "How did the rest of the meeting go?"

"Pretty well, considering." But now Sam was beginning to wonder himself. "I told the guys how we were going to divide the work, and who'd be responsible for what. I tried to be really clear and make sure the workload got divided evenly. Then they went back to work."

"There was no discussion?" asked Reggie. "Did you get their ideas? Ask for their opinions?"

"They didn't say anything," Sam said, now recognizing his mistake.

"They just nodded and went back to work." He thought about how the guys had left the room. Nick had shoved the table slightly when he stood up. Sam hadn't thought it was on purpose, but now he wondered if it meant something.

Reggie kept going. "Based on what you've shared with me so far, I'd like to play it back to you from their point of view. Is that okay?"