Page 23 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

xxii Introduction

move my circle to “Out.” Sherry then explained that team mem-
bers took turns answering the phones during her lunch break
and, as I was the only one left “In,” that would be me today. She
put on her coat and walked out.
I prayed for the phone not to ring. Mary called first. We chat-
ted for a minute, and then she asked me to transfer her to TJ’s
voice mail. Of course, I had no idea how to do that and hung up
on her. Nor was I of any help to a client who called to schedule
an assessment for one of his employees. “Yes,” I told him, “I am
new.” I then did the only reasonable thing and took the phone off
the hook. As I sat there, I had to consider the very real possibil-
ity that I had made a very bad decision. Six years in graduate
school at Yale and here I was answering phones. I had walked
away from a tenure-track position at one of the best schools in
the country and was now sharpening pencils. I felt a wave of
nausea rush over me and considered simply walking out and
leaving a note. Of course, I would be sure to push my magnetic
circle to the “Out” column.
The time from 1:00 to 5:00 passed more slowly than any pre-
vious four hours of my life. As I sat at my desk, I thought of the
Seinfeld episode where George had gotten a job but had been
given nothing to do and spent the day sharpening pencils and
throwing them like darts into the fiberboard ceiling. I seriously
doubted anyone would notice. I glanced over at the dying plants
and realized that this was not an environment in which plants
or people could thrive. At 5:00, I pushed my circle to “Out” and
went home. I slept little that night as my thoughts raced between
“What have I done?” and “Surely things will get better once I
meet with John.”
On the second day, I was the first to arrive at 8:30 and again
waited for Sherry to unlock the door at 8:59. Upon seeing me,
she looked surprised and said, “You’re back.” Apparently, she
gave me more credit than I deserved. I checked “In.”