Welcome back to another episode of the corporate Cowboys podcast as always my name is Alex your host as we continue on our journey together developing one another if you will professionally that’s what I’m striving for by producing this content for you each of these 30 minute episodes you can
Treat as a free 30-minute consult for whatever is on your mind related to corporate at least right because there are a lot of angles many angles to corporate and I use this podcast as a way of uh as a form of cathartic release if you will but always
I act as a professional a consummate professional still you want to take what I say you want to take what we talk about here the content we create you want to take it all with a grain of salt do not rely on anything that we say as legal advice
Shouldn’t be construed that way nor do we promote any uh wrongful activity extra legal activities if you will regardless of what we talk about sure we’re professionals but we’re not your professionals at least not yet if you are interested in a personal consult something custom to yourself to your
Life to your situation to the moves you want to make next you need a little help strategizing your way up the corporate ladder or across it hit us up we’re on Instagram that’s at corporate Cowboys with a z you can DM us get our attention that way the patreon is active as always
There are many tears some of them that allow you to pose the next question to be answered pose a prompt for a podcast and when you do go that route please provide as much information as possible we will take our time and our opinion at least the past couple of episodes
I’ve been consistent with 30 minute rant essentially right so you’ll get 30 minutes you’ll get 30 minutes of content of opinion for sure if it’s customized if it’s if it’s tailored for an episode otherwise the one-to-one rates are very reasonable more than reasonable in my opinion
Because you get a second look at your particular situation from a corporate Cowboys perspective we’re on Rumble we’re on YouTube there are a couple of links floating around if you want to shoot us a dollar shoot us a mill donate keep this operation non-profit it’ll all go towards business expenses
And legal fees and office stationary and ammunition and all that good [ __ ] all right today’s question is coming from r slash career device this is another subreddit and I find that a lot of these questions uh that we pull up off the internet particularly Reddit they have
A lot of ways to answer them sometimes they get really specific with their situation other times they get really broad really General in the way they ask questions today’s is no different in our slash career advice there is a a question that was posed to I guess the General Public
Which I will be picking out and picking apart given my experience and that of my associates that I’ve worked with my colleagues the question is asking when when you see that old boss you hate it for a reason and resigned because he was a [ __ ] what is the best reaction
That’s tempted to say how you were doing so it’s written poorly right and I’m I imagine it’s because this person is writing this question from emotion whether they’re sitting at their computer or sitting on their phone they’re just scribbling the [ __ ] down like what the [ __ ] do I say I’m so
Tempted to say something I’m tempted to say something don’t don’t be tempted don’t be tempted you might have hated your boss for a reason and they might be oblivious right when I said that actually a highlight came to my mind I’ve never seen maybe one one or two um one or two genres
Of TV series that I’ve seen from beginning to end Mad Men is not one of them but I have seen highlights and that’s actually how I stay on top of like sports and statistics and economics I just read highlights unless I have to dive into the technical writing of white
Papers and spreadsheets and data analysis unless I have to do something with some depth and be thorough about it I’m just catching highlights right Mad Men is one of those that I’ve seen a lot of highlights and so as I’ve surfed the web because when I take breaks or when I eat that’s
Usually when I consume media I’ve seen some Mad Men highlights and the one that comes to mind is where this stuck up dude named Pete I guess and uh what’s the other dude’s name the like the boss dude Draper Don Don Draper or Ron Draper Don Draper
Don Draper sounds better Don Draper yeah Don Draper and the dude Pete they’re entering an elevator together and I guess Pete is like a nobody or or Pete is uh yeah Pete’s like a nobody he’s like a new guy trying to establish himself in corporate so he’s making
Ostentatious moves he’s he’s he’s acting wild he’s uh shooting from the hip if you will without without consulting with the chain of command right that’s already a red flag you’re a soldier and you’re out being Cavalier about your [ __ ] that’s already a red flag you want to
Move like a corporate Cowboy you have to first assert yourself as a corporate cowboy in that series I would put that label on Don Draper Don Draper would probably be more corporate cowboyish than our buddy Pete because I also recall another highlight in which Don Draper was fired
But he never had an employment agreement with whatever firm he was working at right price Cooper water Scott some [ __ ] like that right it’s a marketing agency and he never had an employment an official appointments employment agreement with them right and the whole point of that was that he
Was a free agent he had no non-compete Provisions that were keeping him from going off and working with the competition this [ __ ] was a corporate Cowboy he knew what he was worth and he asserted it he negotiated it and so he had a reputation and his reputation preceded
Him anybody’s hand he shook gone [ __ ] Draper they knew the name they knew the business they knew the type of work he was about and that he put in work he put in work so goes the story right the scene that I’m referring to in this
Case is where Pete and Dawn are entering the elevator and Pete says some some schwarmy [ __ ] some smug [ __ ] like I feel sorry for you Dawn or about uh something about Don’s ego or some [ __ ] like I don’t know maybe Pete got one up on him and now Pete’s feeling himself he’s
All the way into his [ __ ] bag his nose deep into his own bag high on his own Supply and he’s telling Donna he believes he’s telling donov I feel sorry about you Don I hope that you uh that you think about this moment or some [ __ ] [ __ ] like that really trying
To trying to pull Yank on Don’s chain right get him riled up for some reason even though he’s still a subordinate to Don and Don the whole time is looking forward not even looking at Pete Pete has got his Pete’s got his shoulders pretty much squared up to Don and
Addressing Dawn facing Don and Don’s just facing forward not even looking at Pete from what I remember Dawn’s looking forward and then after Pete finishes his mini tirade Don just looks over and says I don’t think about you at all dog dog when I tell you that that was
The most Sigma [ __ ] right the most Alpha Sigma [ __ ] whatever whatever the youngsters say nowadays but it was boss in my day right the most boss [ __ ] he could have replied with he could have responded with was just saying to all of those little wishes that Pete
Was saying I hope you think back on this time or whatever the [ __ ] Don was saying I don’t think about you at all and kept it moving that should come to mind when this person is running off of emotion and has and still keeping this hatred for this previous manager right we have
Granted we have no background we have no context we have no circumstantial setting in which to rationalize why our hypothetical client in this case feels this way this is something we would explore together as a consultant as as my hypothetical client if they want to get past this
They should they should be able to get past this especially if this is a person that they will be running into constantly given whatever work it is they do now in whatever industry it is they work in these are all questions they should be asking themselves how should they address
This former manager of theirs and does their manager even [ __ ] remember them or is or manager oblivious was it something their manager did that they had no idea about and this person is just [ __ ] neurotic manic about it whenever they see their manager if they continue to work together in
Some capacity or they run into each other often because of the industry that they’re in it may it’s may it may benefit the hypothetical client to reassess wherever their emotion comes from and when I say where it’s going to be internally assess and evaluate themselves internally in order to keep a professional
Relationship going now if there was some grimy some personal [ __ ] that calls for other extra other extra curricular measures then that could also be addressed right because that implicates and requires planning and strategy it requires logic and it requires tact it requires you going in cold and calculated calm and cool
In order for you to come out on top in order for your reputation to overwhelm theirs right now there are no sides here there may not be a good and the evil right you may not want to compartmentalize your thoughts right off the bat at least
You may not want to start there because you may be in the rug the client is not always right the client may have a point but that point may not even be facing the right direction again this truth [ __ ] is a double-edged sword and some folks don’t even know how to handle it
That being said if we had this hypothetical clients we would ask them what caused what caused this indifference what caused this animosity to develop between their former employer and themselves why should they be tempted to address them at all if they may never see them again
The [ __ ] is the point of opening that can of worms is oh is this a situation where quote unquote next time I catch you on the street it’s on site type [ __ ] if it’s not that don’t bother I’ve been there I’ve done that and if it is not that don’t [ __ ] bother
Because if you’re not about that action and it just so happens that your old [ __ ] boss is you will be in for a reckoning and if it’s not that maintain your professional image keep it moving because if you haven’t elevated in position at least to their level or higher at
This point what really do you have to show for it are you gonna catch up with them and let them know how much they they antagonized you how much they they twisted up your life how much they mixed it up why they caused this emotion to ferment in your soul
What kind of closure are you trying to obtain what type of response are you trying to elicit from them because if that’s what it’s about you want to air your Grievances and you want to vent somehow that we’re back we’re back at the Don Draper and Pete scene from maderman
Now if you want to show off maybe you’ve come up in the world and your old [ __ ] boss is still an old [ __ ] I don’t know they could be male or female they could be [ __ ] made regardless right and you wanna show off and flex on them
A little bit well I mean you want to ask yourself what exactly will that achieve if anything some degree if any of satisfaction will you feel better after that I’m sure you might say yes now or you could overextend yourself you could over share what it is you do
Who it is you do it with or who it is you do it for assuming you’re still an employee and you work for somebody you could say oh I work for this and this company now this and this organization I’m a middle manager I’m way above your
Pay grade and all this [ __ ] I got a [ __ ] Lamborghini and uh and a [ __ ] uh a girlfriend or a boyfriend whatever the [ __ ] who gives me road head while I drive on this Lamborghini like you could try and flex and it wouldn’t [ __ ] matter if your boss was about that life
And chooses to ruin it decides that you know what they have time today they’re gonna follow up on on where you work and who you work for and they might stir the pot some way somehow right now that’s moving like a corporate cowboy in a nefarious sense in an unrighteous manner
Which [ __ ] do [ __ ] want to play Cutthroat [ __ ] think they’re sick and so they’ll sink anybody they have to in order to get ahead or prove a point or just watch the world burn and if you start that fire then it was you wanting to watch their world burn
Just like your perception has you believing that whatever the [ __ ] they did when you worked for them and caused you to believe this [ __ ] is a [ __ ] [ __ ] and had your world on fire in retrospect when you take a step back it might have been nothing at all
Again we don’t have the context how long this person has worked for that manager for that boss what they did exactly that caused them to feel this way that caused them to feel offended that caused them to feel as if some injustice was levied on them was was carried out
And laid upon them we don’t know it could be nothing or it could be something legitimate and that might not still that still might not justify this sense of Temptation to say something which is more than likely going to be something out of pocket if it’s not professional
It’s going to be something out of pocket like it was sub [ __ ] remember me I used to work for Woody woo whatever the [ __ ] and you made me do this or whatever the [ __ ] now look at me I’m [ __ ] gold mother like it doesn’t matter it shouldn’t matter if you’ve moved Beyond it
They might be in the same situation you don’t know their situation at that sure we would ask about it in a consult for as much detail as possible try and give try and provide a sense of Clarity by talking it through and walking it through but again
If you’re just gonna be shooting from the hip and not thinking before you do it’s not the same thing as running and gunning like a corporate Cowboy when you go in with the mission already on hand and you have the skill to improvise you can adapt you can integrate and incorporate
On the Fly to improvise and your way into success this what you’re talking about this isn’t this isn’t that this isn’t improvising for Success because flexing on your old manager or calling them out and and abusing them verbally or harassing them somehow like like quote returning the
Favor by harassing them is not pointing you in the direction of success Let It Go which again like I said if it’s if it was something personal through if it was something out of pocket on their end then legal is probably not what you’re thinking and in that case if you already haven’t
Done anything you likely aren’t about that life or it wasn’t that serious again let it go I do want to take a couple look a couple looks at these comments I do want to look I do want to take a look at a couple of these comments and see if I can’t uh
Comment on them give you a a reaction of sorts because typically what I’ve seen and it’s been a common theme is that I don’t miss [ __ ] the principles of being a corporate cowboy are absolute they are the truth they’re factual and actual this [ __ ] cold hard facts
Whether or not you choose to follow them on your way to success or or you want to take shortcuts and compromise your values and sell yourself short take it up the [ __ ] ass in the form of of negotiating your own Good Will and reputation for I don’t know a sense of a
Sense of being compensated because you get you get more money for it or whatever the [ __ ] but you ain’t worth a damn again that’s on you that’s on you and every now and then the Reddit comments the ones that are uh upvoted the most right they end up near the top
For the most part the majority we understand that reddits is uh can have some extremist or biased leanings in a liberal or Progressive or leftist sense and then other subreddits will be conservative libertarian or right-sided right that’s not to say any of them are wrong a broken clock is right
Twice a day and that’s why there’s two sides but that’s also why the Horseshoe Theory exists at the end of the day we’re in the same [ __ ] pond some of us though are sharks [Laughter] uh just ignore them and keep it moving if they say anything just respond very
Quickly and get away from them no need for unnecessary drama that’s that’s chef’s kiss on point with what I said on point especially the unnecessary drama part I said that just let it go if it wasn’t anything significant if it was something significant you would have done something about it you wouldn’t be
On Reddit bitching you would be quote about that life and if there was nothing significant if it was something job related maybe this person had you doing the menial labor and you you felt it was something denigrating like you weren’t meant to do that job and so you feel like this person wasn’t
Was an absolute [ __ ] about how they managed you that it left you left the foul taste in your mouth to call them boss that’s on you fam that’s for that’s on you for not having a backbone and and negotiating your worth right but again we don’t have context we
Don’t have the uh the hypothetical client’s age we don’t have their background what their experience is like educational or experiential professional career-wise we don’t know any of that this person seems really like they’re just coming off of their the the the the sleeve an armband wearing their heart on it
They come off as emotional I’ll be honest I’ll be on it they’re coming off as emotional that may not be it maybe they want advice on how to be better on how to act better on how to take this opportunity this quote Temptation they have to to Really
One-up their manager to [ __ ] Stick it to them one time they want to take that opportunity they want to take that energy and transmute it into something productive something professional something that will develop that will enrich them that will edify them professionally now that might be me thinking idealistically right
Because in my mind’s eye we should all strive to be consummate professionals a corporate cowboy and we settle for No One we keep it moving we are the ones that Wrangle corporate we are the ones that move the stock the livestock the cattle if you will funny how that played on words
Fits publicly traded companies the next comment here the next comment States I want to say the same thing essentially says take the high road ignore or be polite that is the high road really you could either ignore them or be polite now notice how in the beginning I did insert a consideration
If this manager is still someone you interact or will be interacting with on a somewhat regular basis with with increased frequency right if you’ll be seeing more and more of them choose your ax wisely choose your words wisely because you will have to maintain some form of professional relationship with them
And all that is dependent on what exactly it was that they did to have you believe that they’re a [ __ ] [ __ ] if there was something egregious out of pocket atrocious right then it’s something you might have you might have taken care of if you were somebody else if you were more explosive
And if you’re not take the high road ignore them or be polite I mean if there are other formal procedures you can follow like lodging a complaint but that’s something you should have done when you were working for them when you were having that feeling of this [ __ ] [ __ ]
That that feeling that accurate feeling building up inside of you that’s that’s when you should have been filing complaints and speaking to other managers and HR even and even then you may not be about that life maybe you don’t want the spotlight like that so why why the [ __ ] would you
Think about instigating something when you really aren’t about that action again this is not meant to offend this is meant to have you reflect and I’m not using the podcast as a shield because I’m a thousand miles away from The Listener take this podcast and treat it like time together
Time that you have with me and my associates together we could be imagine we could be in a room sitting at a round table and you come to us with an issue our door is always open and no we are not family but we have the same motives we have the same drives
Similar at least similar convictions for being better I once heard it said that it’s sad that most everybody has a circle of [ __ ] they hang around with to just [ __ ] and talk about nonsense and yet they don’t have a circle of colleagues and Associates that they could
Chop up game with and talk business take this time 30 minutes it’s a free consult take this time and treat it that way granted it’s all been one way just me talking to you and I try not to have any dead air I try to fill all the silence not because I
Don’t believe in awkward silences silence can also be a weapon all right but I do my utmost to fill the 30 minutes I have with you the 30 minutes I can spare not for free right this is an investment on my part for speaking an investment on your part for listening
For taking it in and for thinking I hope it causes you to think to reflect and it Sparks your imagination if you have issues with a manager how to get ahead how to get Beyond them how to get past them or you know somebody that’s in a situation like that
Or anything else related to corporate you know where to find us we’ll catch you next time
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