October 16

Xav’s words were ringing in Bobbie’s ears as she sat at her desk.

“Are you sure a workshop is going to be the best way to do this?” 

He’d seemed concerned when she first suggested that she share the preliminary results with the leadership team in a group setting but she’d won him over.

“I know it seems like it could get out of hand but this is all based on what they said. Plus everyone wants the company to do well. Even if the results aren’t what they expected, at least we can start to fix things with this report. I know it could be difficult at times but this is better than half a dozen one-on-one meetings.”

In the end, Xav agreed and they had spent that morning going over the results of the risk assessment with the XYZ Co leadership team.

It had been a disaster.

Things had got off to a bad start when Zack spent the first 10 minutes telling everyone what a waste of time the whole process was. “We already know our strengths and weaknesses,” the head of Sales and Marketing had kept repeating.

And that had just been the beginning.

Between Zack and Yvonne, Bobbie was questioned on everything from the methodology itself to the gradings she had used. Every quote and data point was challenged until even Bobbie was starting to lose track of where the results had come from.

But the worst came whenever there was a threat that either of them felt belonged to their departments. Beginning with explanations and excuses, Yvonne and Zack argued about everything Bobbie presented that related to their respective departments. Eventually, while Bobbie was outlining the supply chain challenges that would arise if something happened in Janwick, Zack cut her off. 

“That’s a load of BS, Bobbie.”

Before she had had a chance to react, Xavier slapped his hand onto the table. Everyone had turned to look at the CEO. Bobbie realized she’d never seen Xavier lose his temper before.

“That’s enough!”

He turned to look at Bobbie. 

“Bobbie, we owe you an apology. This is a good piece of work and you’ve poured your heart and soul into this report. I don’t like everything I’m hearing but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.” 

He turned his gaze towards Yvonne and Zack  “And that doesn’t mean we should be attacking the messenger.” He said pointedly as his children  looked down at the table in front of them.”

“I’m sorry this got out of hand, Bobbie. It’s tough to swallow but it’s good work so thank you.”

“OK, let’s break here. Bobbie would you be so good as to leave your slides up? We’re going to reconvene, in 15 minutes with just the Senior Leadership Team, to have a, ahem, discussion, about these results.”

The SLT had stayed holed up for the whole day, well past the time most folks went home.

Like everyone who had been anywhere near the conference room that day, Bobbie had heard the raised voices that had continued once she had left. 

Xavier had sipped out in the late afternoon to check in with Bobbie and caught her just as she was getting ready to head home.

“Hey, Xavier. I’m sorry for what…”

He cut her off.

“Whoa! Hold it right there, Bobbie. You’ve nothing to apologize for. We were out of order. Instead of looking at the results, we were attacking the messenger and that’s not right so we owe you an apology. I owe you an apology. I’m sorry that got so out of hand.”

“I appreciate that, Xav,” she replied. “But I still think I could have handled it better. I let the workshop get out of control in the first place. I know that some of the results would be contentious and maybe I could have found a way to create a bit of a softer landing.”

Xavier chuckled, his eyes crinkling.

“Well, I don’t disagree there. A softer landing would have made it easier. But maybe this is what we needed.” 

His face grew more serious.

“But we have some big decisions to make soon and tiptoeing around the hard facts isn’t going to help. I guess we – and I mean we Bobbie, this isn’t just your project – could have tackled the workshop better. Let’s make sure we round up on what we could have improved later this week.”

He straightened to leave.

“I need to get back in there. Despite all the shouting, we’re making good progress so thank you, Bobbie. We wouldn’t be having these discussions without your work. I appreciate it and I’m sorry again for everyone’s behavior.”

“See you tomorrow,” he called as he headed down the corridor.

“See you tomorrow, Boss.”

Bobbie was lost in thought on her drive home. 

The workshop had been awful but in some ways, that wasn’t a surprise. Zack was a decent enough guy but was always a jerk in meetings, trying to show how smart he was. And Yvonne was always super-defensive of her portfolio. So it wasn’t really a surprise that they’d reacted the way they had. Definitely a lot to take away for the next time…

‘But it had worked!’ she thought to herself. ‘It’s helping with the decision-making which is the whole point. So a crappy day but with a good result. I can live with that….’

She pulled into their drive and sat for a moment. She sent Jim a quick note before she headed inside.

‘Interesting (!!!) workshop today. Time for coffee tomorrow so I can tell you all about it?’

With that, she headed up the steps. Work Bobbie was done for the day and it was time for Mom Bobbie to hang out with some three-year olds.