Well, this post is one for the bizarro-files. For the past few years, many organizations have been wringing their hands about the rapidly declining sense of employee loyalty (gee, I wonder why?). Maybe we need to send a team of management consultants over to chat with Harold Gerstel (aka Harold the Jewelry buyer) to see what he’s putting in the water over at his little shop. One of his employees was so fired up, she allegedly hired a hitman to knock off a competitor! Now that’s employee loyalty to the extreme.
In case you missed this bizarre little drama, 71 year old Maria Konstan, a long-time employee of Mr. Gerstel’s, is facing charges after a Toronto jeweller went to police claiming an employee of a competing cash-for-gold business had hired a hitman to kill him.
Yikes! One has to wonder what types of pep talks Mr. Gerstel is giving his employees that would cause Ms. Konstan to morph from a mild-mannered shop assistant to a Soprano’s wannabe.
Other than a bizarre (and definitely sad situation for all involved), what’s the leadership takeaway for the rest of us? My thought is this:
As leaders, you can have more impact than you’re ever aware of and, as such, you need to be careful with how you use your power and influence. Your actions are always under a microscope and you may never know how people may interpret some of the things you say. And this is true whether you’re a front line supervisor or the CEO.
Nobody said leading was easy. Proceed with caution and caring and, above all, recognize your ability to make an impact.
Happy leading!
