It wasn’t long before the word got out that Charlie Mullins had stood his ground against the irascible, terrible Fred Perkins. Perkins’ reputation as an unpleasant person was legion in the company. Operating department heads who had to go through budget reviews and project approval with Perkins hated the experience. Perkins always thought it his obligation to say no to every initiative. It was his authoritarian personality and not his zeal for the Shaw Corporation that marked his encounters. He wanted to make sure that everyone was afraid of him. Everyone agreed that Perkins’ nitpicking often pointed to problems or risks that made their budgets or projects better, but they despised Perkins for the way he went about voicing his criticisms. More than one department head had come back from a meeting with Perkins to say, “God that man is unpleasant! I wonder if he beats his kids! Jeez what a bastard!”
It wasn’t long before those who lived in mortal fear of Perkins started informally consulting Charlie before submitting their work to Perkins for approval. Charlie seemed to always be able to figure out where Perkins would find fault and he helped the operating guys prepare arguments to get their projects approved. Perkins suspected that Charlie was helping the operating guys but he never had an opportunity to catch Charlie at what he considered a usurpation of his power. Charlie was not really going over his head to senior management, but he was, in Perkins’ narrow view of things, reducing Perkins’ power. He watched Charlie like a hawk but was never able to catch him. Charlie knew from the operating guys that Perkins was suspicious of him. They would tell him that Perkins would fume when they came back with strong financial reasons for backing their budgets and projects and how he would reluctantly give in while cursing and muttering. They would laugh to themselves every time Perkins popped another antacid pill just before signing off on their proposals.
Charlie’s colleagues were also impressed. Many wanted to know his “secret” and tried to imitate him when dealing with Perkins. But Perkins had the sadist’s sixth sense for weakness and he would bellow and berate the employee until the poor guy finally gave in. Charlie would tell his colleagues that he did not have a “secret”. He told them of his father’s advice to always just do your job as best you could and be able to defend your views. That was it as far as he was concerned. Charlie said, “You know, most people start out on an assignment worrying about Fred’s reaction. I don’t do that. I just research my work and make sure that it is well-documented. I say no when I think I should say no and yes when I think I should say yes. When you think about the reaction instead of the job, you will always miss something and that’s where Fred catches you. You lose your focus and Fred is a smart professional. He will pick up even on a misplaced comma if you are not careful. When you try to compensate for his attitude, you risk making mistakes. It’s a lot like playing ball. If you take your eyes off the ball when going out for a pass and you are watching for the guy who is going to hit you, you won’t catch the pass. Get your hands firmly on the ball first, and then worry about the hit. And don’t start running for the goal line before you have a firm grip on the ball.”
But Charlie’s colleagues never got over their fear of Fred Perkins and over time Charlie’s work drew the attention of senior management. While that irritated Perkins’ stomach lining even more, he was not about to tell his superiors that Charlie had failings. Fred Perkins was little more than a groveling quivering mass of jelly when dealing with his superiors. He was the typical court sycophant and if someone higher up praised Charlie, he would too – even if it meant more antacid pills. He made sure that his performance evaluations of Charlie were a study in “sucking up”. He would try to be as neutral as possible and praise Charlie only to the extent that he thought would satisfy senior management and Charlie’s performance would seem to be the result of his excellent leadership. Consequently, Charlie’s star was rising in the Shaw Corporation.
He let his mind wander to his ruined marriage and eventual divorce. A few months after joining Shaw, Charlie married Mary Jo. He had a job and now he wanted a family. The small Shoreville church was packed with well-wishers and friends and more than a few senior people at Shaw who had come from Wilmington for the wedding. Mary Jo was impressed and was sure than she had made an excellent “catch”. This was not your average Shoreville wedding. Charlie had attracted a lot of important corporate people from Shaw. After a short honeymoon in the Poconos, Charlie went back to work and Mary Jo settled in to managing his career. It wasn’t long before she was telling Charlie that his chances for promotion would improve if they moved to Wilmington and, who knows, maybe joined a country club. In the beginning Charlie just laughed it off. “C’mon, Mary Jo, you really wouldn’t like those people outside the office. They’re never really outside the office. They’re always manipulating and looking for an angle. It’s boring.”
“Charlie, how can you say that? You know you have to play politics in a corporation. You can’t just wait for things to happen. You have to blow your own horn.”
“Look Mary Jo, Dad died of a heart attack because he lived his job. I’m not gonna do that. I am well thought of in the company. I have plenty of power and I like my job. You saw who came to the wedding. I’ll be moving up, don’t worry about it.”
“But that’s what I am talking about Charlie!” Mary Jo’s voice would turn to a whine, “those people from Shaw who came to the wedding can help your career. You need to court them, Charlie. You need to be around them socially, not just in the office. You need to go out to dinner and the theater with them. Play tennis with them on weekends. See them at church.”
“Jesus, Mary Jo, I see those people all day, five days a week. Most of them are good professionals and I like them, but God Almighty, getting into their personal lives really doesn’t interest me. Why should I pretend to be interested in someone in whom I am not interested? Pretty soon you’ll tell me to start playing golf instead of softball.”
“God yes, Charlie! Golf is an executive game. Softball isn’t. And bowling – jeez, Charlie, executives don’t go bowling except when they take their kids out!”
“Mary Jo, I hate golf. I thoroughly despise the game. I tried it in college and I thought it was the dumbest game I ever played. It’s certainly not a sport and it sure as hell was not recreational for me. I wasn’t even that bad at it – I just hated it.”
“Charlie” Mary Jo whined, “You don’t have to like golf to play it. It’s a chance to be around the ‘right people’. A lot of business gets done on a golf……”
Charlie interrupted her, “I know Mary Jo, but let’s just drop it. I am not going to play something I hate and waste a Saturday or Sunday doing it. Change the channel. I am not going to do it and I have no interest in living in Wilmington either. My friends and my life are here. I play softball to be with my friends. I go bowling to be with my friends. I like those people, Mary Jo, and I don’t want to leave Shoreville, at least not now. So, let’s just drop it, OK?”
“Well, Charlie Mullins, if this is all you want from life, I guess I don’t have much choice do I?” her tone was unpleasant so Charlie just ignored her comment.
But Mary Jo never let up on her pressure. Her protestations became more frequent and more aggressive. Charlie tried to persuade her that his career was right on track, thank you, but Mary Jo simply did not see it that way.
After a year, Charlie had simply given up on talking to Mary Jo about his career and lifestyle. He was disappointed and thought that as a local girl, Mary Jo would have been content to be around her friends. He was wrong. Mary Jo started talking to her friends and anyone who would listen about how important Charlie was at Shaw. She made herself unpopular with her bragging. When Charlie got a couple of promotions she would tell the whole town and say that someday she would be moving away to a “better neighborhood”. That did not settle well with Shoreville’s residents. Charlie was a popular guy and people felt bad that his wife was such an ambitious shrew. Mary Jo took to spending money as fast as Charlie made it to try to impress others. She succeeded only in making herself the object of derision. People starting avoiding her. At community events sponsored by the Shaw Corporation she would ignore her neighbors and try to cozy up to any Shaw executives who were present. She was not helping Charlie’s career and she might eventually hurt it with her unbridled ambition.