Undercover Boss, and I do so religiously. I know, I know. It is as lowest common denominator as you can get, and they attempt to play on the most base of emotions, but, sometimes, they actually hit someone who makes me happy. Such was this young lady from 1-800-Flowers
last night.
Nicole works in a chocolate factory, and runs the line that boxes the chocolate covered goodies that they put in flower arrangements or something. The COO/President wasn't getting the boxes done and the line was backing up, and she would just walk over, do a few things and bang!, line fixed. Quiet, effective management, no yelling, no screaming, no threatening, no dire warnings about productivity, just steady leadership by example. Competence. And when they got to the reveal, where the Boss tells the employee, "hey, remember me? I'm not Dipshit McJones after all, hahahaha, I'm the President of the company!" and the employee gets to have a heart attack while thinking "did I piss this guy off? was there a booger in my nose? what was wearing that day? WHAT DID I SAY?!?!!!!", this young lady merely looked serenely worried, if that is possible. And I got what I watch for, my payoff, the boss saying "You saw how hard I was working on the line and how crazy it was, but it was amazing. When you stepped in it went calm." Her reply? "Thank you. I take pride in it." She is so competent that her answer itself is the ultimate expression of competency. Straight to the point, she knows what he is talking about, and doesn't brag or put on airs, just accepts the praise of her boss, and let's him know that it is important to her. Her "reward"? An incentive program, company wide, based on performance, with her name on it, as well as an actual management position. Talk about never having to buy a beer when you go out with co-workers. This is compelling TV. It doesn't happen every week, but sometimes, there is a spark of hope. People are being rewarded not for kissing ass, or for who they know, or for what they look like, or for what they wear; but for the craziest of reasons, how they actually perform their job. Of course, the other 4 people are hardworking as well, and I'm sure handpicked for the show, but as with this young lady., once in a while, it feels like they really found someone they weren't expecting to find, who blows them away with just competence. And that fires my brain up.
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