Management in 20 Pages or Less: Part 1: The Ultra Short Series, #2

By Brian Oh

Define good management and take home a few ideas to become a great manager yourself. For those who have worked tirelessly to be promoted without preparation or proper training, this book is a message of solace. For those in search of retribution for contributing nothing but pain and suffering as a supervisor, this book is a rod of discipline. For the strict few who aspire to become successful leaders, this book is a guide to leaving the team and the organization far better than how they found it. This book is for those who will be remembered as role models, forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Oh
• Release date: Jun 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223336006

Book preview

Prologue

Fresh out of school, I started my career at a small non-profit organization that aimed to help marginalized populations. It was a privilege to serve people in need, and frankly, I thought I would be dedicating my life to the type of work. Everything about the occupation was great. We held social events by age groups, created volunteer opportunities, and provided educational programs for the participants to build new skills for finding work.

Then there were my superiors, the counselors, and social workers who had been in the organization for longer than I have. They were not abnormal, and far from incompetent. But they were exceptionally strange people.

I don’t particularly celebrate birthdays; it was not a big deal in my upbringing. But since birthdays are still an occasion, I requested paid time off (PTO) for a nicer-than-usual meal at a local diner with my wife. A few days before my birthday, my supervisor approved my PTO request. No problem, Happy early birthday, and have fun.

A few days later, my birthday rolled along. I spent the day off, had great food, and returned to work the next day. What I discovered next was simply bizarre. It turns out that my supervisor and the other superiors had purchased a birthday cake for me, in full knowledge of my PTO approval. They gathered downstairs, ate my birthday cake, and had a great time with a substantial dose of sugar. Then, upon my return, one of the counselors walked up to me and said, Brian, we have some trash in the bin after a gathering yesterday. I want you to collect all the trash in the office and throw them away. I cleaned the mess from my birthday party in which I did not participate. As I gathered the empty soda bottles and scraped the half-eaten cake off the plates, I thought to myself: You can’t make this shit up, but somebody probably has worse horror stories of their bosses out there.

Chapter 1: The Great Resignation

2020 was an iconic year for everyone, but not in the way