For the most part, Mark was a decent manager and we got a long well. He didn't enter my bad books until a particular incident in the fall of 1990.
He went on an angry rant via e-mail about how missed two enterprise-wide critical deadlines in the prior month. Alas for him, the deadlines were missed because he didn't didn't sign the documentation and pass it along as he had been informed via a note on the docs, e-mail and a voice mail message. That he sent this rant while I was on vacation in Vancouver knowing full well I wouldn't be able to do anything about the situation sealed it.
As soon as I read the e-mail in Vancouver, I called him and coldly told him that I took no responsibility whatever for his mishandling of the docs and I was profoundly disappointed his in unprofessional handling of the situation. He sheepishly agreed he had overstepped, but as soon as I returned, I began job hunting and was gone within a month.
The experience left a deep impression --did you notice?-- but it was useful ultimately: whenever I get the urge to fire off a nasty message or telephone call, I think back to Mark's counter-example. I then wait as long as necessary to think calmly & rationally before taking any action.
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Date: 2007-03-22 04:46 pm (UTC)He went on an angry rant via e-mail about how missed two enterprise-wide critical deadlines in the prior month. Alas for him, the deadlines were missed because he didn't didn't sign the documentation and pass it along as he had been informed via a note on the docs, e-mail and a voice mail message. That he sent this rant while I was on vacation in Vancouver knowing full well I wouldn't be able to do anything about the situation sealed it.
As soon as I read the e-mail in Vancouver, I called him and coldly told him that I took no responsibility whatever for his mishandling of the docs and I was profoundly disappointed his in unprofessional handling of the situation. He sheepishly agreed he had overstepped, but as soon as I returned, I began job hunting and was gone within a month.
The experience left a deep impression --did you notice?-- but it was useful ultimately: whenever I get the urge to fire off a nasty message or telephone call, I think back to Mark's counter-example. I then wait as long as necessary to think calmly & rationally before taking any action.