Between the Lines
  

One Bad Apple by Fred Martel Occasionally you run into a manager or business associate who presents a considerable challenge. The challenge is dealing with someone who is marginally competent and has little or no experience is the field you are in, yet he persists in attempting to be the expert. Sadly, his superiors are conned into thinking that your performance would suffer without his intervention. He drags everyone down and productivity suffers.  You wonder why this person hasn’t been fired. This type of person can be a boss or a customer, but either way they can offer a great deal of daily frustration unless they are dealt with early on in the relationship. As a business owner, that customer from hell can create an unpleasant situation, and most often the solution is to break away and let someone else deal with them.  If you are an employee suffering through this sort of problem, you eventually quit. The important factor is to recognize that the time has come to make a move. Life offers enough frustrations without prolonging an agony that you can control by breaking away. This, of course, should be the last resort after attempting to come to terms with an amateur. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here

Occasionally the novice, which is the biggest offender, slips through the cracks and finds himself in this business. He proceeds to invoke whatever false sense of what should be and attempts to change an industry wide attitude in a short amount of time. Amazingly, his superiors are initially fooled into thinking that this person can turn a business around and producing all sorts of casualties in his wake.  The only effective way to manage is with the cooperation of all involved. And all must have confidence and respect for the person running the show or suffer the consequences. The important thing to remember is that what goes around comes around. If you hang in and maintain your professionalism, that client, boss or customer will see the light, or be forced to move on. If he doesn’t, then you should.                                                            ###