To the "Manager" Who Just Fired My Friend
A close friend of mine got fired this afternoon, after working for a non-profit agency for five years. My friend is a generous, responsible, and highly capable person; I personally watched her chair - as a volunteer - fundraising events that brought in over $250,000 for two schools in our area.
Over her tenure at this agency, my friend received strong performance reviews, except for the last one, when - pay close attention - she had a boss who was new to the agency. This new "manager" got very upset when an embarrassing (to her) error occurred. My friend was to blame, but let's put this in perspective... if I only made one error every five years, it would be a huge improvement over my actual performance.
For much of my friend's previous four years, she worked for a former colleague of mine. This colleague is a tough, smart, demanding and highly professional woman. She gave my friend excellent performance reviews; to this day, they remain friends. Unfortunately, that woman moved on and was replaced by the new "manager".
To recap: new "manager" comes in, decides she doesn't like my friend, and sets the ball in action to fire her. At her first possible opportunity, she does.
Did I mention that this is a non-profit agency designed to help people?
I've taken pains in this piece to keep everyone anonymous, because my intention is not to criticize anyone - even the "manager" who fired my friend - but rather to inspire other managers to aim a bit higher.
If you are part of an organization created to do good, then do good. Don't be petty or vindictive. Don't fire people because you feel like it.
But here's my main message: if you join an organization and find that a person who has thrived at that organization suddenly becomes incompetent once you start supervising them... the problem is you, not them.
So think twice before you give up on people. Don't label them as expendable. Don't send them out the door, simply because you don't feel like working with them.
If you only work with people whom you naturally like, then you will put yourself in a box and marginalize your own career. In the short run you may have the power to make other people stumble, but in the long run you will only trip up yourself.
Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter for entrepreneurs. Learn more at Kasanoff.com. He is the author of How to Self-Promote without Being a Jerk.
Superintendent at Tesla
8 年The situation you describe sounds very clear and understandable. Unfortunately, if you interviewed the "new" manager, you may see a different point of view. You may find the friend had excellent reviews because of the personal relationship with the old manager and in non profits managers tend to applaud even the poorest performances. Managers want to be liked and only in very rare cases will they discipline subordinates due to poor performance, even when it is a very clear case of absenteeism or not turning in weekly monthly reports etc
Quality Assurance Specialist at Action for a Better Community, Inc.
9 年I have had direct experience with a non-profit which, were it a privately held company or even publicly traded, would have closed its doors decades ago due to nepotism, mismanagement, inefficiency, lack of professionalism and stifling corporate culture. Human service agencies are vulnerable to the same weaknesses as commercial or for-profit enterprises.
Social Worker at Sun River Health
9 年This is really unfortunate but it happens all the times in non-profits but it's just not talked about very much. I think that some people too often assume that all persons working in non-profits are ethical and fair minded but this sadly is not so. One of the best things that your friend can do is not take it too personally, always speak well the organization and start interviewing in places where she and her efforts will be better appreciated.
I see the key issue - people aren't hired / promoted to management with any experience in managing, directing, inspiring, motivating....most often they are moved into a position because they are good at doing their key work (developing, project managing, understand an important element of the job). Good managers manage the people well who do the job.