Dave sat on his deck admiring the trees in his backyard. He had called in sick that morning, deciding to lie low for a few days.
That branch needs to be cut, he thought, spotting a dead limb on an oak at the edge of the woods.
He watched his email most of the day for anything interesting and wondered what was going on back at the site. Finally, he typed a note to his secretary. “Denise, feeling a bit better, but still coughing,” he wrote. “Anything going on I need to know about before the weekend?”
A few moments later he got the response he had been fishing for: “Frank has just been let go! Marge is in her office crying, and the rest of us are in shock,” she wrote.
Dave smiled and picked up his phone and dialed. He practiced his cough as the tones went through. “Oh my God, Denise. They didn’t!” he exclaimed, when Denise answered.
“Yes, Dave, it just happened. We don’t know why,” she said, holding back tears.
Dave asked what she had heard, and she told him all she knew. He had many questions and seemed to relish every detail Denise could provide. Dave assured her that things were going to be okay and then they hung up.
Dave breathed deeply, enjoying the fresh air, and then dialed Jack Garrideb. “Hi, Jack. How did it go?”
“As well as could be expected,” answered Jack, wearily. “Word will travel fast, I’m sure.”
“Yeah, Denise just called me—lots of folks in shock, apparently. Anything about me?” asked Dave in anticipation.
“Nothing yet. I’ll have HR send you the draft announcement about your promotion for you to review. You may want to add in more about your background. Get it back to the communications department by Monday. We’ll release it on Tuesday, after things quiet down a bit.”
“Yes, certainly,” assured Dave.
Dave hung up the phone and smiled. His wife brought him another glass of wine and they walked to the edge of the deck. He gazed out over his yard and silently toasted the oak with the dead limb.
“Sometimes you just have to cut out the deadwood,” he said to his wife, taking a sip. “Life is good.”
Postscript
Frank accepted an enhanced “retirement” package and moved with his wife to their vacation home on a lake in the woods. He fishes as often as he can and enjoys spending time with their grandchildren.
Dave moved into his new position and continued his career, and became vice president after a year. Eventually the company merged with a competitor and Dave got himself selected to head the transition team, which meant he could decide who would go and who would stay. He cleaned house of all his rivals. He promoted Dorothy, who continued to work with him for another year until recruited by a competitor. Dave’s wife divorced him after she discovered he was having an intimate relationship with his secretary. Dave eventually left Garrideb to start a consulting practice that, according to all accounts, is very successful. He also teaches as an adjunct professor at a large, very well-known university. His most popular course? Business Ethics.