The Fear Factor
So I am at work, and an employee asks for a quick word. The member of staff would like to take 30 minutes off part-way through their shift to go to hospital with the husband – some kind of root-canal dentistry work or something…
…So anyway, today is an exceptional day because the store where this person worked had just been refurbished, and it was all hectic and I had arranged extra staff to work – everything was under an inch of saw dust! Because of this, I said yes to the staff members request (I was starting to think that maybe I had gone a little overboard with the staff – too many cooks…). And besides, the husband was going into hospital after all!
The member of staff looked up at me (a rare occasion, I’m quite short) and asked again if it really was okay. I repeated my answer and asked if everything was okay. The employee responded with, “Everything is okay, you’re in a good mood today.” I kinda gave a puzzled look and said that I thought I was normally in a good mood. I always make a point of smiling and saying hi to staff. The employee then said that most people feared me.
Now, I don’t mind staff fearing me a little. I know that when I’m not standing next to them, they mess about. When they know I’m not around, they play up. I know that because occasionally it goes very quiet when I suddenly arrive at a store. All of a sudden there can sometimes be a flurried panic of looking for something to do while giving the appearance they’ve been doing it for a while. I swear they think I was born yesterday!
But another part of me doesn’t want to be feared. I want to be liked. I want to be nice to people. I want everyone to be happy. I guess it is just trying to find the happy medium. Tricky, but then, life ain’t easy…