WEBVTT

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Angie, have you got a minute?
Uh, what do you need?

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About this report you needed...
Oh. Right. Are you going to have it done?

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I'm working on it.

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I really didn't expect him
to get it done. Not really.

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I expected him to have an excuse.
He always had an excuse.

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We agreed you'd have it redone and
on my desk by 10 o’clock tomorrow.

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That's what I wanted to talk to you about.
Really?

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Listen, I've been thinking...
Yes?

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Remember when you first wanted
me to put this report together

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and I asked you what points
needed to be emphasized

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and you were late for a meeting, or something,

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and you said "just use your
own judgment... I trust you."

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Okay...?
I did that. You didn't like it.

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I just pointed out a few things
that I felt needed to be corrected.

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Okay, maybe I should have had a
better handle on the key points.

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But now I'm going to have to stay
late to fix it. Is that a problem?

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My kid had a soccer game that night. My wife had a
class to go to. Yeah, it was a problem. A big problem.

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It is... but that's not
really why I wanted to talk.

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What?

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This isn't the first time that you've
asked me to drop everything else

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to get something done for you.

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It seems like you expect me to do whatever
it is, whenever, to hit your deadlines.

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They're not my deadlines, Neal.
They're the company's deadlines.

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And everyone is expected to meet them.
But, they seem like... Never mind.

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Why does he do that? Like he was
afraid to tell me the truth.

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Like he thought he was going to
hurt my feelings or something?

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Listen. I'm busy. You're busy. If you've
got something on your mind, tell me.

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Okay. One, I've got commitments outside of work
that I just can't drop at the last minute.

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And, beyond that, I don't really think you appreciate
the kind of workload you're putting on people.

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And I don't mean just me. I mean the whole team.

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Alright.
So... What do you think?

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I understand your concern.
But you need to understand what's at stake here.

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We'd just gone through a merger.

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If any of us were going to have jobs in two years,
we were all going to have to step up to the plate...

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hit those goals and be more productive.

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I understand, you have responsibilities
and commitments. We all do.

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And I understand you don't have the budget and the
personnel in the department that you used to.

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But we still have to figure out
a way to meet these goals.

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I know that.
But do you really understand what that means?

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Maybe not. Maybe I've gotten so wrapped
up in how everything's changed

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that I don't understand. But maybe you've
been so focused on hitting those goals

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that you can't really see
what it's doing to people.

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My first thought was, "He's wrong. I
know how my department is doing."

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I appreciate what you're saying. There
has been a lot of pressure on everyone.

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But we're under a microscope right now.

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Customers, the people we do
business with, investors;

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they're all watching this
merger to see if it works.

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And we can't afford to let up. Not now.

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I respect that. I do. And I know that there's
going to be times when I have to stay late

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or drop everything for something
that's really an emergency.

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I just feel like everything's
an emergency with you.

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And I get frustrated and angry because it
doesn't seem like that's ever going to change.

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So, what do you suggest?
That's why I wanted to talk.

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I'd like to try to figure out a
better way for us to work together.

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I appreciate that you're
willing to tell me how you feel.

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I know that's not easy - especially
with someone you report to.

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And I probably haven't communicated
as well as I could have.

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I agree. Let's figure this out.

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You know, I thought he'd never change.

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Never adjust to working for someone
younger than him and a woman.

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But, just the fact that he came in and said

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here's what I'm feeling, can we
fix it - that impressed me.

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It wasn't easy.

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But, if I hadn't brought it up, the
whole thing would have gotten worse.

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Now, at least we're talking about how to fix it.

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The pressures we face in the workplace can put a lot
of strain on our relationship with our manager.

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And, sometimes, that's going to
result in a conflict situation

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that gets in the way of both
of us getting our work done.

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And believe me, it can be a real challenge
to ask your boss - hey, can we talk?

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But you know what - if we're
feeling frustrated or angry

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chances are the person sitting
across the desk is, too.

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And the only way I know of to
change that is to sit down,

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tell it like you see it, get it all on the table,