Weekend with the CEO

Shock as CEO lauds my resignation, hints he’s also leaving firm

pss

It is finally done. I have resigned and in three weeks I will be starting a new job. I must say I have mixed feelings—I am glad that now I can breathe and map a way forward. So, last week I finally received the call I had been waiting for. It was the HR manager of the company I will be joining. Initially, I did not recognise the caller number but once she came on the line, I knew what it was about. The lady, her name is Alice, gave me a long story about how they evaluated many candidates before finally settlingon me.

She said, “I will be emailing you the remuneration package which we believe is competitive for you to sign. “Alice sent me the offer letter within the half hour and from an initial look it seemed way higher than what I earned. However, I knew that I might not get this chance again, so I responded and requested for an “upward review of car allowance.”

Once again, Alice gave me some long story about how I was already receiving a generous pay, but she would “ consult and revert.” She came back to me at the end of the day with what I must say was impressive.

Not wanting to sound too eager I told her,“ I will review and revert by tomorrow.” When I got home, I pulled out the calculator and looked at the numbers and yes, they made sense. So, I signed the offer and decided to make the call I had been avoiding all along—I called Shiro. I had no time for niceties so I said, “babe I have resigned.” There was a pregnant silence and then she said, “What! Why! Why am I hearing about it on the phone?” It took a while for me to calm her down and tell her the entire story.

She asked me, “why didn’t you tell me earlier, don’t you trust me? I gave her my reasons, but that seemed to annoy her more. She said “I am so mad with you right now!” and then she hang up. I had expected her to get mad about not being told early enough but her reaction was a bit too much this time. I decided she would cool down in time, so I readied myself for resignation the next day.

The next day found me waiting for the CEO in his office. He looked very cheery and said, “Josphat, how are you my boy?” Even before I could respond, he told me about his new fitness regime where he is doing “yoga and boxing- which make me a lean, mean machine”

I had prepared for this conversation, so I started off by saying that “given the nature of our relationship, I felt I needed to tell you first.”

I told him about my departure and imagine my shock when he said “I am really happy for you.” He then proceeded to tell me about how even he was counting down the days to his departure.

He said, “this company is not what it used to be, and I am glad you are leaving this mess behind. He said “do you mind telling me the company you are going to, who knows they might need someone like me?” My sixth sense told me not to tell him details so I said, “at this moment I cannot share any more information.”

He then gave me some long motivational talk about my potential and the journey ahead. I actually felt very relieved as I walked to the HR office to submit my letter.

As I was walking there, I saw that Shiro was calling me. But I decided to ignore her for the time being. I would talk to her once the deed was fully done. I am scared she might get me to change my mind.