The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

Most – but not all – were very kind and compassionate.

Some were from people having a hard time who asked if they could chat.

I cannot tell you how happy that makes me.

Not because I want anyone to feel that way, but because it means the post maybe helped them realise they’re not the only one going through it. That feeling of ‘isolation in situation’ can play havoc with you. I saw it when I started Corporate Gaslighting … except in many of those situations, companies were actively trying to make employees feel they were to blame, as they knew the shame would keep them quiet and they could carry on pretending all is fine.

A bit like when companies make a ton of people redundant then say:

“We’re doing well and are perfectly positioned to help clients thrive”

Or some other transparent bollocks.

Of course I also got some assholes comments …

A couple of [anonymous] emails claiming I was attention seeking or virtue signalling or just being a prick. It reminded me why I [potentially temporarily] closed the comments down on here …

Anyway, I want to leave you with a bit of management I read recently that I loved.

It’s from the football manager Sean Dyche.

Sean has a ‘no nonsense’ reputation.

He also is known for having worked miracles for Burnley.

But I recently read how he handled a situation when he was manager of Watford.

In 2012, striker Troy Deeney found out his father was gravely ill with cancer.

Soon after, he got involved in a violent fight near a Birmingham nightclub and was detained by police.

At court, he was asked what he wanted to do and he plead guilty – saying “there was not a thought in my mind of contesting it. I knew what I’d done”.

Deeney was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

It was here Dyche showed his attitude to management:

Now some may say this is wrong.

That Troy needed to pay for his wrong.

And I get that. I also get that the managers opinion – no doubt helped by the fact Deeney was a successful and important footballer – was he had paid for his wrong by going to prison.

For the record, Troy did turn his life around and has become an impassioned champion for communities and groups often overlooked or dismissed by society sand government. His book is a phenomenal read. He owns all his wrongs. At no point does he try to mitigate any of it. Given his early homelife, he could. But he doesn’t.

But all that aside, what I love about Dyche’s comment is the acceptance that people learn at different paces and in different ways. That every person has different challenges to overcome and the role of management is to not just drive standards or success … but to recognise the needs of the individual and educate them on how they can be better. In essence, give them the chance to be better, rather than write them off because they did something you wouldn’t, regardless of context or circumstance.