One of the things that I will never quite get used to is gossip at the workplace — somehow news flies o fast and it always seems that I am the last to know.
Last week, early in the morning Lucy came to my desk and said she wanted to chat. I thought it was something work-related so I removed my notebook, but she said, “I am not here to talk about work exactly, just about stuff that is happening around here.” I laughed and said, “well, you know I am the last to know anything so go ahead and tell me.”
I was expecting the usual gossip, of who is sleeping with who, or who is thinking of leaving the company. I was not ready for what came next. Lucy told me that the employees have been unhappy with the way things are going in the company and how the CEO treats them.
I said, “well they need to calm down, he is the new boss and he is going nowhere.” She quickly responded, “that is where you are wrong, he might be leaving soon.” This now had my attention and I said,” tell me more.”
According to the company grapevine, employees have decided to take matters into their own hands. Lucy informed me that the staff have informed the Matiang’i team that our boss should not be here and should not have been granted a work permit.
These allegations sounded crazy and I could not help but laugh so I said, “what makes them say that?” It seems that staff have uncovered details about the boss’s education and work history. They claim that he does not have “a degree and did not work in one of the companies he claimed to have worked for.”
This was truly scary stuff and I was not sure how to deal with it, so I pretended to brush it. Thankfully, my desk phone buzzed — it was the CEO summoning me to his office.
I was happy to escape this discussion and walked very fast into the boss’ s office. He seemed to be in a good mood as he asked me,” Josphat, you look a bit weird, what is going on with you?”
I was tempted to tell him about what I had just heard but I decided to keep quiet. He then proceeded to tell me what he wanted me to do. He basically wanted me to prepare a presentation for a talk he will be giving in two weeks. I was a bit miffed that he was asking me to do this since we agreed that Lucy would oversee these projects.
My thoughts were disrupted by the boss saying, “I would have asked Lucy but I feel she has not quite gotten a sense of my style. As I was walking out of the office the CEO asked me once again, “are you sure you are okay? you know you can talk to me about anything.”
I decided to deflect his attention and said, “I am fine, it is just that with my wife away it is a bit tough managing the household.” This seemed to satisfy him as he then used it as a cue to talk about himself and how he has managed his career — “without my wife, I would not have done it, it is rough.”
As I walked out of the office I could not help wondering what staff are planning? How should I react to this news? Should I give my boss a heads up or should I just stay mute? I need to talk to Amisi.
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