Recently, Chris Paul was let go by his NBA basketball team, the LA Clippers.
It was expected to be his last season in the NBA after 21 years in the league.
So what happened? Why was he let go?
Paul’s personality and desire to win created an uneasiness in the organisation as he was challenging those around him to do better. Holding others to high standards.
Personalities clashed and the organisation let him go. To make matters worse, they let him go when the team were doing poorly (and still are). They let go of one of the few players who seemed to want to win and do better. He wanted to instill some hard work and competitiveness into the group but the group said no.
This experience spoke to me and my experience in the corporate world too. I was a loyal employee after I graduated from University, only working under two employees (albeit different roles) in the subsequent 20 years. And in both jobs I had a strong desire to be better every day and contribute as much as possible to the organisations. I wanted my workplaces to be the best and I too would challenge people who I thought were underperforming and also provide ideas to management.
As you can imagine, this didn’t go down well.
I have found that most employees don’t want to be better. They just want to be.
Most employers don’t want to hear new ideas or have their ideas challenged. They just want loyal robots. Yes men and women.
Particularly in my last job, my challenging of ideas resulted in a stigma placed over my head. Someone who is difficult and high maintenance. Getting to the point where the company secretly wants you gone so they can replace you with someone ‘easier’ to manage. In other words, another yes man or women.
I even saw one of our best employees denied a job because he was seen as too difficult to manage. He worked under my management for a good six years before deciding to leave the company for a new role. It sounds like his new role didn’t work out as he wished, so applied for his old job when a vacancy came up a few years later. At that stage I was no longer the reporting manager for that role. I was in a new role. If I were I would have hired him in a heartbeat. He was an extremely hard worker who like me, wanted the best for the company. Yes, this meant challenging times where we had discussions over better ways of doing things. But that is what I wanted as a manager. It means staff are engaged. They care. I didn’t want robots. I wanted to encourage opinions and diversity. That is what leads to improvement. But the new manager and his superiors had other ideas. They only remembered him as hard work as he had the same stigma attached to him that I had. They couldn’t see the results he delivered. They could only see how it makes their own life harder, even though that isn’t best for the company. So they chose not to re hire him. A decision that would cost the company dearly in terms of productivity and results. All for the sake of taking the ‘easier’ path.
Another time during the peak of Covid there were three employees up for the chopping block to be made redundant. All three of which were my direct reports. The company (my manager and his superiors) made the choice to get rid of my best direct report. Again, the hardest worker with the best output, good ideas and engaged. Why? Because again, he was seen as difficult to manage. Thankfully on this one I was able to put up enough of a fight and argument to get them to change their minds and keep him. Otherwise he would have been gone too.
Both employees victims of my management style that encouraged open communication and sharing of ideas. My style in direct conflict to the upper management.
So why I am telling these stories here on my personal finance blog?
I see parallels between my experiences with workplaces and life and finances.
A lot of workplaces in my experience don’t want to do better. They don’t want the extra headache from diverse staff who challenge ideas even if it leads to better outcomes. They may say they do but actions speak louder than words, and their actions say no. They want workers to listen and do what is asked of them. And a lot of workers are happy for this too. They get to fly under the radar. They see their job as a form of income and not much more. Both employer and employee happy with the status quo.
This is the same as life and money. Many people are happy with the status quo. They don’t take the time required or step back to challenge their own ideas or thinking. Or think about how can I be doing better. It is hard because by admitting you can be better means admitting that you are doing something wrong. It is much easier to be on cruise mode.
I think if more workplaces had more open communication and encouraged diverse opinions, they would perform so much better. Having staff that are more engaged and always wanting to be better and less robotic can only mean good results. It is the same for life. If you always strive to do better and seek contrasting opinions, you too can find better ways of doing things and improving your life and money situation.
It's not easy to be challenged, but your life deserves more than just going through the motions. As much of a pain as they may be, we all need a Chris Paul in our life. Getting rid of your Chris Paul is only removing the person in your corner that wants you to be better. The person that cares. As much of a pain as he may be in the moment, egos should be put to the side so you can make the changes needed to deliver the best results and be the best version of you.
The information contained on this site is the opinion of the individual author(s) based on their personal opinions, observation, research, and years of experience. The information offered by this website is general education only and is not meant to be taken as individualised financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or any other kind of advice. You can read more of my disclaimer here