Own it Amy!

By now, you would have had to  have lived under a rock to not know about  Amy Klobuchar's l'affaire de la salade.   Amy, as most of us know, was once so angry and hungry that she ate the salad her aide had gotten for her with a comb because he had forgotten to get  her a fork.

At first, I was horrified.  Then, I found the incident hilarious.

I can relate to being really hungry and foul tempered, to having my food tantalizingly close and yet impossible to eat.  I don't think I would have had the chutzpah to grab my comb and use it as a utensil.  But part of me admires her nerve.

Senator Klobuchar does not seem like the most fun boss to work for.  In her defense, I have been a hated boss myself.  A few years ago one of my employees snapped at me because she was bored.  (I am a voting warden, so I work at most a few days a year.)  Handing out ballots and checking off voters is a boring job.  Everyone knows that.  But this woman expected me to read her mind and do something about her ennui STAT!

I have never yelled at an employee, and I don't recommend that anyone do it.

I do suggest that instead of cowering in fear, if you work for Amy Klobuchar, you tell her to knock it off if she crosses a line.  That goes for everyone who works for anybody.  Your boss is human, too, and may well need to be told to behave from time to time.

Not "Likeable" Enough? Too Bad!

I told my daughters on election night 2016 that they would remember the next four years as terrible times, but also, perhaps, as the most exciting times of their lives.  True to my word, the last two plus years have been exciting - full of energy, enthusiasm and creativity.

One of the great developments has been the surge of woman candidates running for office at all levels.  Several are running for president.

As day follows night, though, we see the re-emergence of the trope that women need to be "likeable" to be elected president.  Amy Klobuchar, in particular, has been singled out.  People report that she is a "bad" boss who scares off staff, yells at people, and "throws things".

Though I am not a fan of yelling bosses, my experience with one taught me that not everything is as it appears.  I worked for a woman named Sharyn in the early 1980's in the credit and collections department of a Fortune 500 high tech firm.  When Sharyn found out during my first interview that I was from Ohio, she asked me if I was "square".  My future co-workers warned me about her with advice like "don't cross her", and "be ready for insults".

Sharyn was, indeed, a tough boss.  She was profane, loud and obnoxious.  When she didn't like an idea, no matter whose idea it was, she would often say "You can dress up a bloody corpse and put it in a tuxedo, but it is still a bloody corpse."  She was also charismatic, funny, smart and good at her job.

After I had spent a year doing credit analyses for big contracts, Sharyn promoted me to Supervisor of Accounts Receivables.  Delia, a young woman of Portugese descent, worked for me.  One day, Sharyn make fun of Delia's Portugese background, calling her "Portugee".  I was horrified, Delia was mortified, the rest of the people in the area were embarrassed, and Sharyn was clueless.

Later, Delia told me how upset she was.  "I'll take care of it" I said.  I felt like Dorothy approaching the Wizard of Oz as I walked into Sharyn's office.  "You have to apologize to Delia for the Portugee comment.  She is really upset."

Sharyn got up from her desk to find Delia.  She apologized sincerely, on the spot.  This terrifying woman had enough sense or humility, or both, to make amends immediately.

Sharyn didn't change, though.  She wouldn't change, even after another incident, more serious than anything I had ever experienced.

Cynthia, Sharyn's secretary, started dating John, a co-worker.  After a while they moved in together.  One day, Cynthia came in to work with a black eye, a swollen lip, and bruises on both arms.  When Sharyn asked what happened, she said "John beat me up."

When confronted, John appeared shocked and insulted.  "She beat me up!"  Yet John had no black eye or bruises.  He didn't look cowed and afraid, as Cynthia had.

Sharyn took up the issue with Vic, her boss, with whom she had an adversarial relationship.  Sharyn's
modus operandi was to try to intimidate everyone, including her boss and peers.  Vic had several departments under him, and was not happy to have to deal with Sharyn.  He respected her results, though, and I believe he respected her, too.

Vic interviewed John and Cynthia separately, then fired John and had him escorted out of the building, warning John never to approach Cynthia again, "or else".

Although I was really shaken to see evidence of domestic violence, I was glad  that everyone went to bat for Cynthia.  I think that Sharyn's relentless nature, her advocating for women, and her stubborn refusal to walk away from a fight, created an environment that led Vic to fire John,

Sharyn was both a good boss and a tough boss.  A bad boss is one who blocks your advancement, offers no guidance or support, and sabotages you.  It doesn't matter how "likeable" they are if they aren't on your side.

I don't work for Amy Klobuchar.  I don't know if she is a good boss or a bad one.  But I don't assume that someone is a bad boss because they yell at people, or a good boss because they smile and are likeable.