Tom Lee is a communication consultant who works out of his suburban home, inventing models of leadership shaped like rainbows and bicycles, and occasionally dressing up and heading out to talk about the importance of communicating with employees.
But when he communicates with employees himself, facilitating focus groups, he must struggle not to roll his eyes as they blab their pitiful, sad-sack tales of woe.
Because here's what he really thinks about employees, as revealed in a blog post Friday, about Steven Slater, who he dismisses as a "just a whiner" and a "boor" whose momentary popularity reflects nothing more than, "society has lost its moorings." (Actually, Tom, society apparently lost its moorings when it celebrated a similar boor—a bus driver who went rogue in 1947.)
"Let's stipulate that flying is not the joy that it once was," Lee snarls on his blog. (Flying was never a "joy," Tom. It was only civilized.) "We can all agree on that, and we can parcel out the blame in equal measure to airline management, short-fuse passengers, the legacy of terrorism, corporate travel purchasing algorithms, and perhaps even airline deregulation."
And once that blame is parceled out? Tough shit, mates.
"Yes, being a flight attendant has its pressures. But it is nothing compared with the monotony and the dirt and the danger and the dehumanizing neglect that millions upon millions of workers around the world experience day in and day out."
So American employees ought to take whatever American companies dish out on account of they ought to be grateful they're not working in a coal mine in China?
"If a Steven Slater goes bonkers because of a little stress, on an airline with leather seats and expansive leg room for passengers no less, it is a sad reflection on him. He deserves not folk-heroic celebration or even Woody Allen's fifteen minutes of fame. He deserves lifelong obscurity as a nobody, for that is what he is. Next case."
Fifteen minutes of fame is Andy Warhol, not Woody Allen, Tom. And as long as I'm correcting things, I should acknowledge that you don't actually describe yourself on your blog as an employee communication consultant. You're "an American authority on strategic leadership and workplace engagement."
I reckon an authority on those subjects ought to think a little more deeply about this Steven Slater phenomenon, and what his elevation to folk hero really means.
Which is, that lots and lots and lots of people wish they could do exactly what Slater did, and they take vicarious pleasure in this take-this-job-and-shove-it fantasy. Whether or not this is a sign of these particular times—well, you're the American authority on workplace engagement. You tell me.
Oh, and one more thing, Tom:
I don’t know, David. The more I read about the whole Steven Slater thing, the less enthralled I am with him. It turns out quite a few people feel he was the villain in this story, not a grouchy passenger.
And while I believe plenty of people have good reason to tell their employers what they can do with their jobs, I also believe we’ve become a nation of spoiled brats in many ways. I get frustrated with clients from time to time and I have enough distrust of corporate culture in general to remain self-employed as long as I can. But I also thank the Lord every day that I have clients to get frustrated with and that corporations need the services I provide.
It’s fun to spend a few minutes living vicariously through this guy, but eventually it’s time to get back to work.
“It’s fun to spend a few minutes living vicariously through this guy, but eventually it’s time to get back to work.”
Well first of all, I think this is exactly what the nation is doing.
“But I also thank the Lord every day that I have clients to get frustrated with and that corporations need the services I provide.”
Robert, this is an understandable emotion, but it’s best relegated to beside prayers. If we all spend all day and night thanking God that we have jobs, however tedious and meaningless and stressful those jobs are, then we’ll never agitate for anything better.
I agree that Steven Slater is no labor activist and no hero; he’s one guy who went bonkers, and he will be forgotten, soon and completely.
It’s just that dismissing him as “just a whiner” and a “nobody”–and the national reaction–is simply not something a person in employee communication ought to do.
I don’t think we should ignore him. I just hesitate to elevate him to folk-hero status.
And I don’t “spend all day and night thanking God” that I have a job. What I’m talking about is a spirit of gratitude — something I believe is sorely missing in today’s work world. My gratitude doesn’t for a moment slow me down in pursuing new clients and striving to do better with each job I’m given. But look around you and you’ll see a lot of whiners and complainers, which is where I think Lee’s remarks are coming from.
I’m just super nervous that Cindy is now going to feel empowered to tell me to f&*k off, pull the cord on the figurative slide, and quite Crescenzo Commmunications.
Steve C.
I’m just super nervous that Cindy is now going to feel empowered to tell me to f&*k off, pull the cord on the figurative slide, and quite Crescenzo Commmunications.
Steve C.
I’m just super nervous that Cindy is now going to feel empowered to tell me to f&*k off, pull the cord on the figurative slide, and quite Crescenzo Commmunications.
Steve C.
And steal two beers.
I want to see his face on a US postage stamp. Or we could shove George Washington off the dollar bill and stick him on there. Or we could do both.
If she tries to take the beer, she doesn’t make it on the slide. She knows that much, at least.
I can see both sides of this. Tom, as an engagement expert, should certainly be more in tune with what the workforce is feeling . . . and the workforce is frustrated and pissed off.
I just read an article in either the NYT or WSJ about how companies who are treating their employees like shit because they know the employees have no options (and there are a lot of them) better be ready, if and when the economy picks up, for a mass exodus of workers.
I think this Slater guy represents SOME of that inner rage.
I also think he himself is a little bitch, and I hope he doesn’t become the representative of the “new workforce” or anything like that.
The new workforce needs some representation . . . just not that dude.
Steve C.
If she tries to take the beer, she doesn’t make it on the slide. She knows that much, at least.
I can see both sides of this. Tom, as an engagement expert, should certainly be more in tune with what the workforce is feeling . . . and the workforce is frustrated and pissed off.
I just read an article in either the NYT or WSJ about how companies who are treating their employees like shit because they know the employees have no options (and there are a lot of them) better be ready, if and when the economy picks up, for a mass exodus of workers.
I think this Slater guy represents SOME of that inner rage.
I also think he himself is a little bitch, and I hope he doesn’t become the representative of the “new workforce” or anything like that.
The new workforce needs some representation . . . just not that dude.
Steve C.
If she tries to take the beer, she doesn’t make it on the slide. She knows that much, at least.
I can see both sides of this. Tom, as an engagement expert, should certainly be more in tune with what the workforce is feeling . . . and the workforce is frustrated and pissed off.
I just read an article in either the NYT or WSJ about how companies who are treating their employees like shit because they know the employees have no options (and there are a lot of them) better be ready, if and when the economy picks up, for a mass exodus of workers.
I think this Slater guy represents SOME of that inner rage.
I also think he himself is a little bitch, and I hope he doesn’t become the representative of the “new workforce” or anything like that.
The new workforce needs some representation . . . just not that dude.
Steve C.