>I recently fired my first-ever direct report. Although he was low-energy, uninspired, and an awful speller, what ultimately led him to the ax was his insistence on boundaries. (...) He would come into the office at nine every morning, leave at five, and be inaccessible anytime before and after. Regardless of deadlines or passion projects, his workday was determined not by his work, but by his hours.
Thanfully, in some civilized countries, writing something like this can get you sued - and you'll be losing that lawsuit too.
"his workday was determined not by his work, but by his hours"
The entitlement. This cheapskate unprofessional lowlife wants to get more hours than they paid for - for free, as if they own slaves, and not professionals they did a specific contract with, listing hours and all. This is literaly the mindset of a slave owner.
This is fine. I never wanted a career in the first place. I'm content with a job that pays a decent wage, and I would never want to work for somebody like Gabrielle Peterson because she doesn't seem to get that in some industries (like tech) the only way to get and keep work/life balance is to build the sort of wall between work and the rest of your life that Thomas Jefferson envisioned building between church and state.
If you want more than 40 hours, then I've got something to say that you should engrave upon your heart: time and a half or GTFO.
> There’s no disputing it—sometimes emails need to be sent at night.
No, they don't. You may feel they need to be sent at night, but nobody is going read them until the next day unless their life outside of work is as lacking as yours. If they were that urgent, you would have found a way to send them during business hours.
> Sometimes calls need to be taken early in the morning.
No, they don't. Make them during business hours, or wait until the next day. Better yet; send yet another email instead of making a call since you like sending email so much.
> Sometimes a Monday deadline necessitates a few hours of work on a Saturday.
The only deadline that isn't arbitrary is the date of your death. Everything else is arbitrary and negotiable. Now, if I suspect that I'm not going to make the deadline, I'll tell you right away by email. But if you ignore my email and the thing doesn't get done by the deadline, tough shit. If you want me to work late for your deadline, then you'd better be paying time and a half for overtime.
I can always get another job, but one life is all I'm ever gonna get. Managers like Gabrielle Peterson, who mistake their work for some kind of personal crusade, need to do something about their own senses of entitlement before presuming to correct that of their (former) direct reports.
To me it's funny because managers and executives want employees to work the same hours as them, but sure don't want to share the compensation side of the equation with employees. To me free time becomes exponentially more valuable after 30-40 hours. And alot of companies are surprised when employees fall behind on technology because it's on the employee to put the extra time and money in.
modern leadership: working long hours "making decision and directing" for astronomical pay whiling convincing the plebs to work overtime at lower than market pay executing the brilliant plans. All in the name of making wealthy investors spreadsheet numbers go up that have no way of actually spending all of that wealth.
Thanfully, in some civilized countries, writing something like this can get you sued - and you'll be losing that lawsuit too.
"his workday was determined not by his work, but by his hours"
The entitlement. This cheapskate unprofessional lowlife wants to get more hours than they paid for - for free, as if they own slaves, and not professionals they did a specific contract with, listing hours and all. This is literaly the mindset of a slave owner.
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