Beautifully said Melissa, thank you so much for sharing. This is so relevant, especially now, when Christmas is just around the corner.

A very interesting example K. This driver could have been acting on his own volition to prove as you said his worth to his seniors and to also demonstrate to his coworkers that he was closer to the owner than the rest of you. And he could have been directly serving the owner’s agenda. I have actually seen both type of situations unfold in front of my eyes. There are gatekeepers who love to rub their “power” in people’s faces and there are unscrupulous owners who use their employees to do their dirty work as Jason suggested.

Actually, you have a strong point, Jason.
Now that I’m thinking about it, the driver could have been simply carrying out what he was told, basically doing the boss’s dirty work. But they were going so smoothly about it, and the owner never made any comments that could imply he had anything to do with it.
At the time I myself wasn’t even experienced enough to make those connections based on my observations.

Jason,

In the line of work you do sounds like it’s a very important skill – to know how deal with gatekeepers. Sounds like you have mastered their language. I like what you said about treating them with respect and saving the face as a key to successfully getting to the level of the organization that you are interested to reach – the decision makers.

This is interesting K. I’m wondering if it may have been the Owner who abused his power by using his personal driver as a way to check on his employees daily production? The driver may have simply been doing what he was told to do and reporting back to his boss? It would also have been interesting to see what would have happened if you as an individual or the entire team as a group challenged his authority to see if he actually had a measure of power and chose to abuse it or if it was all for show? A challenging experience as a young worker nonetheless.