Don't Be A "Warren."

I think it's a bad idea to write blog entries about one's current job.  However, that does not mean I am unwilling to pass along anecdotal wisdom gained from previous employers.  This is one such anecdote.

Like many of us in the tech industry, I provided technical support & assistance for clients by many communications avenues, including email.  One morning, I get an urgent email from "Warren" asking me to perform a routine task in a short time frame for an urgent deadline.  I also noticed he's carbon copied others in his office on that same email.  I take his request out of sequence, complete the task, and "Reply All" to let him and his colleagues know the request has been completed so they can do what they need to do.

About three minutes later, "Warren" calls me on my direct line and chews me out. "How dare you  include my supervisor . . ." on the email reply.  When I explained I hit reply all to notify all parties included on the original message of the completed status of the task, he cut me off and told me that he was the only person allowed to email his supervisor, period. 

Here's the point: All these years later, I don't remember anyone else's name from that office. I couldn't tell you what they did, or if they even did their jobs competently. They could have been the foremost in their field, but all I will ever remember is "Warren" and his pathetic macho bullshit attitude.  That is how powerfully cancerous to your organization's reputation one asshat like "Warren" can be.