| Steve and Ellen had three children: a daughter in | | | | job, and out of the cozy environment he relished. |
| New York, another daughter in California, and a | | | | Why he had taken this attitude was simply |
| son who had stayed around to work in the family | | | | beyond me, but his response set the stage for |
| company. | | | | what happened next. |
| The couple ran a manufacturing company in | | | | "Wayne, I understand what you're saying." |
| Indiana started by the husband's father. | | | | Now, if anyone ever says that to you, it will |
| Although he was in his nineties, the grandfather | | | | mean exactly the same thing: He understood the |
| still came to the office every day (during the | | | | words that were coming out of my mouth, but |
| parts of the year when he wasn't in Florida). | | | | he was not going to change his behavior. It was |
| Like so many family businesses, there were three | | | | as simple as that. |
| generations involved simultaneously. The problem? | | | | I conferred again with Steve and Ellen and the |
| The successor: Steve and Ellen´s son, | | | | grandfather, who had a particularly close |
| Stevie. | | | | relationship with his grandson. Everyone said that |
| His attitude, now that his sisters had moved | | | | they had talked to him, and that they hoped that |
| away, and since he had stayed in their home | | | | he would snap out of it, pay attention, and get to |
| town and worked for the company, that it was | | | | work. |
| natural that he take over the business, and it did | | | | But his feeling of entitlement and hubris were so |
| not matter to him if he worked hard or not, | | | | great that I didn't hold out any hope that he |
| because someday, it was all going to be his, | | | | would change his ways, and that somewhere |
| anyhow. It was his birthright. | | | | down the line, there was going to be a blowup. |
| As you will see, however, the people involved in | | | | Within a very short time, I got a call from Steve. |
| this story seem to believe that the purpose was | | | | He went into excruciating detail about all the things |
| patently obvious. It doesn't need to be discussed. | | | | that had or had not happened, all the issues still |
| As a result, members of three generations of the | | | | unresolved, even though we had all tried to make |
| family have quite different individual interpretations | | | | it as clear as possible that something had to give. |
| of what that purpose obviously is. | | | | He was at his wit's end, and something needed to |
| On my first visit to the business I found out | | | | be done. I was, however, a little surprised at what |
| exactly what that meant. | | | | he felt that course of action should be. |
| The nature of their industry created several times | | | | "You're the expert," he told me. "You need to |
| each year when the plant ran 24 hours a day, 7 | | | | come up here and fire him." |
| days a week for a month to six weeks at a | | | | And so I did. |
| time, to meet the demands they faced in a very | | | | I must say, it was a pretty unpleasant |
| competitive industry. | | | | experience. After talking with Steve and Ellen, I |
| I happened to be there during one of those times. | | | | went over to the Stevie's house, and not only did |
| The son was supposed to be in charge of the | | | | I fire him on behalf of his mom and dad, but I had |
| factory floor and of one of the work shifts. Right | | | | to tell him that he would have to get out of the |
| in the middle of this busy time came a defining | | | | company-owned house by the end of the month. |
| conflict for him, and for the business. | | | | Steve had written a letter, which I presented to |
| You see, Stevie was a baseball player. And his | | | | him, that made it very clear that if he didn't |
| team, sponsored by the local bowling alley, was in | | | | move out, he would send the Sheriff to evict him. |
| the championship. So on a day when he was | | | | Stevie was shocked. For that matter, the entire |
| supposed to be at the plant, running the line and | | | | family was shocked. And I was relieved that it |
| managing a crew, he did not even show up. | | | | marked the end of my involvement in a truly |
| He was a no-show!. | | | | distressing situation. |
| I talked to the grandfather, and to Steve and | | | | That was all they had wanted me to do: to fire |
| Ellen. They were all hard-working, hard-driving | | | | their son. |
| people. Real taskmasters because they had to be | | | | It was about a year and a half later that |
| in order to build their business over the previous | | | | someone told me that Ellen had passed away. I |
| thirty years from nothing to something that | | | | called Steve to pay my condolences, and we had |
| supported the entire family in good form. | | | | a rather interesting conversation. |
| After meeting with them, I talked with Stevie and | | | | It seems that Stevie, after being fired from the |
| his wife, meeting their two small children, in their | | | | family business and forced to move himself and |
| house, which was owned by the company. | | | | his family out of their free lodgings, had finally |
| It was definitely a comfortable setup: Stevie and | | | | gotten the wake up call he had needed for so |
| his family lived for free, and he was paid very | | | | long. |
| well. Far better, in fact, than he likely would have | | | | Within a few months, he had started working with |
| been paid by anyone else, considering his attitude, | | | | his grandfather on a side project, and eight |
| his education, his interest, and his skill level. | | | | months after he was fired, he had won his original |
| Listening to him, I was astounded by his attitude. I | | | | job back. And with it, he had also won a lot of |
| told him very flatly that if he didn't start paying | | | | self-respect. |
| attention to his responsibilities, and stop pushing his | | | | Six months after his reinstatement, he was really |
| parents and grandfather to the limits of their | | | | taking charge and managing his responsibilities. |
| patience, he was going to find himself out of a | | | | |