Liver quivers

So.....

I had dinner and drinks with my new boss and a few close colleagues. It was kind of a “going away” dinner for my old manager, so later during the post meal drinking, I jumped up and gave a impromptu speech. I thanked the departing manager for being my manager for the past several years, talked about how much I’d learned from him (which is actually true, I suppose) and then toasted him. It was very, very, Japanese.

I then also provided toasts for nearly everyone else sitting at the table and explained that I don’t know who my next manager will be, so I’m going to toast each person and say something nice about everyone. Big laughs from almost all.

Fade a few hours and I’m sitting in a bar with my new Scottish manager. We’ve had a lot to drink, but I paid close, close attention to my alcohol intake so that I would be (nearly) sober when we finally had a serious discussion.

The serious discussion finally came, and my new (temporary) manager asked for my input on myself replacing my previous manager. I said that quite honestly I’m not sure that I’m interested in the job. The department is a total mess and (my judgment) over half of the group needs to be terminated for cause. I’m just not that interested in promoting into a new job so that I can turn around and flush half the folks. The new temporary manager said that he’s going to be doing some of the clean up in my group himself, and we’ll see where we end up in a few months. In the mean time, I should bring my “A” game and show him what I can do. As an added bonus, I’m theoretically supposed to “take control” of the department and lead it. The only trick is that he’s not going to tell anyone else.

A recipe for failure if I ever read one.

Where’s my hotdog stand?