Your Life and Business

Good news travels fast but bad news travels faster. It was a day after Peter had sent an email to his colleagues in which he had informed them about his divorce and Peter had taken the day off.

 It was a nice and quiet evening - just a winter evening that John always enjoyed after a working day. He was sipping red wine and listening to music. Suddenly he recognized a well-known melody of the song “Why Does my Heart Feel so Bad?”

Ruth was sitting at her desk looking for something in her bag. It was an early Tuesday afternoon – just an ordinary working day. “Oh, I hate this bag. Each time when I want to find aspirin I can never find it. Maybe the bag is too big…,” Ruth mumbled. “Do you have a headache? Can I help you?” Mike asked her empathetically. Ruth nodded: “Thank you. I’ve just had a lunch with a colleague. She was talking non-stop and it made me crazy. Why can’t people listen?”

It was the second day of a very unusual teambuilding event. Ruth was hurriedly sipping coffee thinking about John’s unexpected idea of delegating authority to the team. She was glad that he was not going to change the team model. However, she knew John well enough and guessed there might be some hidden thoughts or plans.

It was a nice sunny summer’s day. John and his team were on their way to a countryside hotel where they were going to spend two days together. It was the so-called team-building event that they had every year. Each time it was almost the same – some sport activities, workshops, some kind of treasure hunt.

John came back to the office after a long afternoon meeting and was extremely glad to see all his team members lively discussing something. It was 17h30, the end of the working day, but he had some time for sharing thoughts and hearing feedback for the day. Interestingly, such discussions often helped him to bring the whole team together.

Ruth was still in the office sitting at her desk. She had just finished writing e-mails. Her mobile rang. It was John: “Ruth, where are you? We are waiting for you.” She looked at her watch. It was 19h00, high time to hurry up to the happy hour. “I am on my way. See you soon,” Ruth lied and didn’t know why. She grabbed her coat and went out.

John was still sitting in the café, where he had lunch with Ruth, and thinking about her words. He felt he should be patient and cautious. However, it was not the first time that John had dealt with harassment in the workplace. Ruth’s position was not quite clear to John. What did she really want?

John was still waiting for Ruth. They wanted to go and have lunch together because Ruth had something to tell him. John was extremely curious, though he knew she might have some problems with Ron.

Ruth, John’s deputy, was standing in the middle of the open plan office and looking at the tribal mask that John had given her. “It’s fantastic. Thank you! Hmm.. John, I’d like to talk to you but I have an appointment with Mr. Smith now,” Ruth said. John suggested that they have lunch together and left the office.

John, a team leader, who had just come back from holiday, was sitting at his desk in the office. Emily, his personal assistant, and two other team members, Peter and Sam, had cheerfully greeted him. He’d found out that Ruth, his deputy, was in the face-to-face meeting with Ron, the new senior manager.

It had taken John only 30 minutes, to collect his bags and clear customs; and he was now on his way home. It was the last day of his holiday, and he’d arrived back to a beautiful sunny day. John had the window down in his car to keep him awake after his long flight; and he knew it would be a long day ahead because, later, he wanted to go to the office and meet his team.