Page 75 of Take a Moment

Monday morning arrives and despite my being emotionally and physically exhausted from the events of the weekend, it’s a welcome distraction going back to work. Today is the start of my leadership programme – three intense days of workshops – something my career-focused mind has been looking forward to. Before heading to the conference room where the welcome session is taking place, I swing by my desk to grab my completed pre-work.

‘Good weekend?’ Emmanuel’s head peers over the PC screen opposite as I perch on my chair and unlock my desk drawer.

‘Yes, thanks. Not as relaxing as I’d hoped though. How was yours?’

Emmanuel eyes me for a moment. It’s clear she’s tuned in to the slightly forced tone in my voice, but she sticks to answering my question. ‘I had a lovely weekend, thank you. My sister flew in from the US – she emigrated there a long time ago – and we had a great catch-up over wine and sushi. Haven’t seen her in three years.’

‘Sounds like it was well overdue.’

‘It really was. Anyway, Alex, there’s something I need to tell you before—’

She’s interrupted by Danielle, who sweeps into the office and plonks her stuff on her desk noisily.

‘Urgh. Morning all. Don’t you just hate being guilted by homeless people all the time? I passed three of them on my way here.Three. All of them asking me for money. I work hard for my salary. They should try doing the same.’

Danielle’s words rattle through me like a pinball and I shoot Emmanuel a look that loosely translates as ‘she is so out of order’. Emmanuel nods in silent confirmation.

‘Do they have so many people on the streets in Glasgow, Alex?’ Danielle asks me. ‘I feel like we’re awash.’

I grit my teeth to be sure I give a measured response. ‘Homelessness is a problem all over the UK, Danielle. And it’s not an issue caused by laziness. You’re smart enough to realise that.’

‘Huh, sure.’ She sniffs, not accepting my view at all.

Grabbing my pre-work and my bag, I excuse myself from the conversation so I can get to my session on time.

‘Are you heading to the conference room now, Alex?’ Danielle asks. ‘Wait for me, I’ll chum you.’

I stop dead. Danielle’s coming to the leadership event? Surely not. I slowly turn, catching Emmanuel’s eye as I do. She mouths ‘I’ll explain later’, face full of apology. Taking a deep breath, I offer Danielle as genuine a smile as I can muster.

‘Sure. I didn’t know you were on the programme.’

‘It’s not really been public knowledge.’ Danielle joins me and we walk out of the office together. ‘I didn’t want to boast about being one of the company’s future leaders. You know how it is.’

‘I sure do.’ But you most definitely don’t, I think to myself. So, what’s really going on here?

The morning passes quickly and despite Danielle being irritatingly domineering in the group conversations, I find I’m able to filter her out and focus on the quality conversations with the other like-minded colleagues in the room. That is, with the exception of the introductions stage, when we’re sharing a bit about ourselves, including our hobbies. This is where Danielle decides to tell the group that she and I are both avid runners, and suggests we all go for a run at lunchtime the next day to help us gel as a group. As the responses of ‘why not’ and ‘sounds fun’ reverberate around the group, I have to resurrect my fantasy injury as an excuse, which unfortunately allows Danielle to sit back smugly with a look of ‘I knew it’ plastered across her face.

When we break for lunch, I make sure I shake off Danielle before returning to the office to seek out Emmanuel.

‘How did Danielle end up on the course?’ I whisper to her, hunkered down at her desk.

‘Let’s take a walk.’ Emmanuel gets up and ushers me out of the office.

We walk along the corridor of the main floor until we find an empty meeting room and duck inside. Emmanuel closes the door behind us.

‘I am so sorry, Alex. This is not my doing, Ipromiseyou.’

‘So, who’s “doing” is it?’ I’m unable to hide my frustration.

‘I was told this morning. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I trust you and I think it’s important you understand what’s going on. It seems her father has finally succeeded in bending the ear of the chief exec. I’m not happy about it. It undermines my role as a leader and this is not what this company is meant to be about.’

My blood feels like it’s at boiling point and I want to scream with frustration. ‘She doesn’t demonstrate any of the key behaviours in the leadership framework. Also, I thought the programme was only open to staff at my level and above. She’s a grade below.’

‘I agree, and it is. But strings have been pulled here. The one saving grace is that, because she’s at a more junior grade, the chief exec has been clear that she’s only to benefit from the development at this stage. She won’t be up for consideration for any of the leadership positions on offer at the end of it.’

‘I suppose that’s something. But it’s still unfair to everyone else who works their backsides off. Sorry, I know I’m probably overstepping things here, but it’s just not right.’

‘Do not apologise.’ Emmanuel takes a seat opposite me and looks me square in the eye. ‘You have every right to feel this way, Alex, and you’re not the only one who does. As you know, Felix was really keen to get on the programme. You can imagine how he’s feeling this morning.’

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