Chapter 9. 3:00 PM Employee Promotion: Supervisor Becomes Assistant Manager

3:01: Chad Perceives a Silver Lining

Chad is feeling upbeat after the meeting with Susan. Maybe the day is finally starting to turn around, especially since the next item on his calendar is a breeze. He is going to meet with one of his supervisors and give him a promotion to assistant manager. Chad has had his eye on DeShawn for months now. The time is right to move this guy up and give him more responsibility. Chad is looking forward to the 3:15 meeting, which will be quick and fun. He loves delivering good news.

He now has some time to check his e-mail and his messages. Phil sent a two sentence e-mail asking Chad how the meeting with Susan turned out. Chad sent a quick response, thanking Phil once again. He and Phil are now officially on good terms again.

Then he picks up his office phone to retrieve his voice mail. Ironically, the first voice he hears is from his vendor, Tracy, who must have called right after he got back from the meeting in her office. She didn't say much—just that she wanted to ask him a quick question. But she sure sounded friendly. Maybe she's reconsidered and will give us that break after all, thinks Chad. Maybe the day is going to get even better.

It won't.

3:02: Mike Wastes No Words

Mike follows a similar protocol with Lucy that he had with Gary just an hour before. He goes to her cubicle, catches her attention, and asks her to come to his office. Before they start the tandem walk down ...

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