How To Get Fired In A Heartbeat

I read a story this morning about a woman who was hired and fired by the New York Times in the course of six hours. It seems the Times did poor vetting and found out this person had an association with a group of Nazis. Believe it or not I have topper and I saw it in person.

My old boss, a brilliant executive, entrepreneur and inventor had a test for prospective salesmen. He always hired guys who had competed in life in other areas; professional football, PGA golfers, a man who escaped communist Hungary in 1956. He hired me because I was a former coach who had experienced the thrill of victory and the sting of defeat.

None of the prospects were told of 'The Test' we received before being hired. The boss would take us golfing. The purpose was to see how we reacted on good shots and, more importantly, how we responded on mishits. To him it's what salesmen do on a daily basis with customers. We win some and we lose some but we learned to control ourselves in defeat and move on the the next company.

It was the Fall of 2006. My boss had hired a new national sales manager. His starting salary was $100,000. That's pretty good cash. None of the salesmen were ever impressed or intimidated by national managers for a couple of reasons. (1) We all made more money than he (2) If there was a problem or we needed something we went directly to the boss.

In September we always had a sales meeting at the old Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. It was a four hour drive from our Rock Island, Illinois home office. Basically, we met in the morning then partied the rest of the day. Most of us golfed. So, on this day the newbie sales manager, who had ridden with my boss to Lake Geneva, teed of with our boss. On the first hole the new guy on his second shot dropped the F bomb. He did the same on the second hole. On hole #3 he didn't swear but after his 3rd shot on a par 5 he helicoptered a 9 iron.

It was then that my boss called him over to him and said, "Know what? I don't think you're going to fit into our operation. And, by the way, you have to find your own ride home".

Was that classic or what? Gosh, I love my boss.