A field sales manager was late in fetching his boss, the multinational corporation’s director of sales. Rumour had it that as a result of that snafu, the field sales manager was passed over from promotion and was eventually re-assigned to an obscure position at the logistics department. Some years later, the field sales manager resigned as his peers moved up the corporate ladder without him.
Field sales managers in the corporation tell new salespeople that they should never ever make the sales director wait. Whether it be picking up the executive at the airport or attending a meeting at the head office, sales managers have an unwritten rule in which they should never be late. Because if they ever were late, chances are those erring salespersons would be bypassed from promotion, their careers frozen for good.
There was no such rule in any of the corporation’s manuals about not being late to a meeting or an appointment with one’s superior. There is also no memo or letter stating such a measure. The ‘never should you make your boss wait’ is an unwritten rule, one shared only between salespeople and other employees in the sales department.
Yet, salespeople in the multinational corporation follow this rule and communicate it to others. They feared risking their careers if they did not comply.
It’s not enough for employees to just follow whatever the written rules are. They should also know and be familiar with the unwritten ones as well.
Ellery's Essays 