Page 84 - Executive Warfare

EXECUTIVE W ARF ARE

The mentor thinks that he is the hare and you’re the tortoise. He may
do wonderful things for you early in your career—protect you, teach you,
encourage you. But if you catch up with him, it can get really ugly.
Before I worked at Hancock, I once had a boss with whom I was really
close. We’ll call him Carl. He was one of the few people in my career I’d
consider a mentor, and he’d really brought me along. However, there had
already been some chafing as I had risen in the organization and won favor
with some of the top people. I was now in a position where I could express
opinions Carl disagreed with, and to his frustration, he could no longer
simply veto my ideas.
Then, one morning, my brother called to tell me about a crisis in our
family, and it was clear that I had to travel home.
Carl offered to fly out to lend a hand.
While I really appreciated his concern, I
NOTHING IS MORE explained to him that I was going to
FRIGHTENING TO have my hands full with my crazy fam-
MOST BOSSES ily. If I had to focus on friends from
THAN THE IDEA another environment as well, it would
THAT SOMEONE only make things more difficult for me.
THEY HAVE I wasn’t back in the office but a few
BROUGHT ALONG hours when Carl handed me a letter
MIGHT BECOME accusing me of being ungracious and
THEIR EQUAL. inconsiderate for not allowing him to
come along.
In turn, I found him utterly inconsiderate. And unreasonable.
This evolved into a very ugly argument—such an ugly argument that,
except when work demanded it, we never said a word to each other again.
Carl had actually been one of the very few men in my life I’d cared
about as much as my father. But, when I’d made the distinction between
boss and family clear, he’d been mortally offended.
Mentor relationships often end in such train wrecks. The famously close
relationship between Sandy Weill, the former chairman of Citigroup, and

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