I received an unexpected email this morning notifying me that a conference I had been accepted to months ago, a conference that is out of state and three weeks away, did not have the expected attendance and as a result, my sessions would be cancelled.
No phone call.
No offer of compensation or restitution.
Nothing.
I had already made arrangements including nonrefundable ones and invested a great deal of time in my preparation. I couldn’t decide if I was more concerned about the time and money lost or indignant about the way it was all handled.
Unexpected things happen all the time. There are often heavy consequences when they do. There are also situations where the unexpected could be a bit more expected with proper planning and experience. Either way, it’s important to do right by those who are impacted. In the same way that it is important for us to look out for ourselves to ensure we are not taken advantage of, so too must we as leaders ensure that we never take advantage of others, particularly those we lead.
While trying to clean up messes that result from mistakes or merely circumstance, we must consider those we have made promises to. Under no circumstances should they be made to shoulder the cost- literal or otherwise.
Unfortunately, this happens all the time. Whether freelancer or employee, small business owner or middle manager, we are frequently asked to pay the price- literal or otherwise- for a situation we have had no hand in causing.
Just a few examples in my own experience include being asked to:
– Start a new job a day before my official start date (without payment) because the hiring process took months longer than the organization had planned and they only had one day for me to shadow the person I was replacing. The original plan was that I would shadow them for two weeks but due to their disorganization, they wanted me to pay- literally with a free day of work- to make up for it. Being young and desperate for the role, I conceded and still have a bad taste in my mouth because of it.
– Pitch in for a work trip my boss asked me to go on at the last minute that would do nothing for my career and require lots of last-minute shuffling. I would need to leave in two days, do all the planning myself, and fly to an out of the way destination I had no interest in visiting to attend a ceremony that my boss should have been at. I was ready to comply until I talked to a more seasoned colleague who thankfully convinced me to say no. I did go on the trip but did not pay for any of it, as it should have been.
– Find a replacement substitute teacher after I had already secured one who subsequently mixed up the dates. Instead of my supervisor handling it, especially since I was on vacation (hence needing the substitute) he kept directing phone calls to me while I tried to enjoy my dinner on Mackinaw Island. This happened later on in my career, and after too many previous instances of simply complying, I finally found the strength to say no.
There are more- too many more. I’m guessing it isn’t too difficult for you to remember some of your own. Were you able to advocate for yourself when it happened? Is there an instance when you weren’t? How did it feel?
As managers operating in between those we supervise and those who supervise us, we are in a constant state of trying to do right by those we lead while ensuring that our own needs are met by those who lead us. Our jobs necessitate that we advocate up while advocating down all day every day in a way that can be tricky and tiring. There are times when we have received the brunt of someone else’s culpability and it is easy to feel justified in doing the same to someone else, but of course, we cannot. Just as we do not want to be left standing with the bill for food someone else has eaten, we too should be diligent in ensuring that no one else pays for our meal.
The unexpected happens to all of us. We all make mistakes. When there are negative consequences as a result, we need to protect those with less power and salary from bearing the brunt. We need to take responsibility and ensure that those we lead never pay the price- literal or otherwise.
