My most embarrassing management moment

I’ve had plenty. Here’s the worst.

When I first joined Air Flow in 1995, we had a warehouse guy named Gerry. He was a recovered alcoholic, and he had committed to 5 years at a job below his skill level, and after my first couple of years he quit after having fulfilled his promise. Gerry, if you ever read this, I think you’re awesome.

Anyway, after Gerry left, I hired a guy named Phil who seemed capable enough. He had a baseball card trading business and a driver’s license, so I figured I was covered. Not so.

The warehouse was a disorganized mess, the guy was a disaster, and I’m pretty sure he drank while he was working. But I didn’t fire him because I had never fired anyone and didn’t know how to do it.

One afternoon at 2:00 I walked into our lunchroom that had a little sofa. Phil was lying down, wrist over his forehead, one leg extended over the edge of the short blue couch, nearly asleep.

“What are you doing?!”

“Taking a nap.”

“Why are you taking a nap??!!”

“Because I’m tired.”

I walked out of the room as I had nothing to say. I’d been trumped by my own stupid line of questioning.

If you refuse to take on a leadership role because you’re afraid you’ll suck at it, you can’t suck worse than this.

Yes, Phil got fired. That’s a story for another day.

Until next time.