YOU + YOUR BOSS (EP.3)

By Justin Kerr

YOU + YOUR BOSS (EP.3)

When your boss says "How's it going?" what they really mean is "I don't trust you." Confused? You shouldn't be. Mr Corpo explains how to get credit for all the work you do. Plus special guest Nick Grover explains why Mr Corpo might be the worst boss in the world and why it's a bad idea to party with your direct reports. New music by Rich Girls.

 

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

You + Your Boss (9/14/2016)

FEMALE VOICE: Knock knock. 

JUSTIN: Who's there? 

FEMALE VOICE: Get to work. 

JUSTIN: Hi, I'm Justin Kerr, and you're listening to the Mr. Corpo podcast. Kicking ass in corporate America since 2000. Rob, hit the theme music. 

(Intro music)

JUSTIN: Welcome back to episode two of the Mr. Corpo podcast. We're recording live from my apartment in New York City. And on this week's episode, we're gonna be talking about you and your relationship with your boss. It's kinda scary to think about, but your boss holds so much power over you. They almost have the power to determine everything that happens in your life: how much money you're getting, how successful you're gonna be in your career. It's crazy to think about how important they are to you. Let's talk about it. This is gonna be kinda like relationship therapy. 

(music)

JUSTIN: Alright. Before we get started on today's show, I thought I'd start with a little bit of an ice-breaker. Since we're talking about bosses, it made me start thinking about, who's my favorite boss? And I came up with a list. I'm gonna name names, I'm gonna tell you who's my favorite bosses. Here's my top four. Number one, Chris Funk. Number two, Arthur Lewis. Number three, Michelle DiMartini. And number four, Berendt Hopcorn (?). There it is, for the whole world to see, those are my favorite bosses I've ever had in my life. Shoutout to them, even though they'll probably never listen to this podcast, and they'll never know they made the list. 

(music)

JUSTIN: Okay, on to the next order of business. I'm gonna call this section, "How's it going?" I'm gonna call it that because I wanna talk about those four little words: how is it going. For most people, if their boss walks by and asks, "How's it going?" They think, "Wow, I've got such a nice boss, he's asking me how it's going, what a great guy." Let me tell you what your boss actually means when they ask, "How's it going?" What your boss actually means is, "I don't trust you." 

Confused? You shouldn't be. Let me break it down for you. Here's what most people think happens on a project. Your boss asks you to do something, you go away and do it, and then you turn in the project. 

(music)

JUSTIN: Here's what actually happens on a project. Your boss asks you to do something, you go away and work on it, then your boss comes over and says, "Hey, how's the project going?" You say fine, keep doing the work. Then maybe the next day, maybe a few hours later, your boss comes by and goes, "Hey, how's it going?" Again, you just say, "Yeah, good, good, good. I'll -- I'll turn it in." And then on Friday, you turn in the project. Mission accomplished, right? 

Wrong. Here's the thing. Most people don't think about the boss's experience of how the project get done. And the thing is, because your boss had to come by and say, "How's it going? How's the project going? What's going on with the project?" What they were actually saying is, "I don't trust you. I don't think the work is gonna get done unless I'm over here babysitting you." You very well may have been doing all the work. You very well may have been turning it in on time. But the thing is, because your boss had to come ask you those questions, they're gonna walk away from the project and feel like it never would have gotten done if I hadn't reminded them about it. So you're never gonna get credit for all your work. I mean, let me just say right now, one of the most common complaints I hear when I talk to people about work and their boss and all these things is, they say, gosh, I never get credit for all the work I'm doing. 

Well, this is exactly the problem. The problem is, your boss is taking credit for all the work you're doing. And the thing is, it's really easy to fix. Here's what I want you to do. Whenever your boss gives you a project, I want you to go right back to your desk, and I want you to send them a really quick, simple email. Just says, "Hey boss, thanks for the project. Here's how I'm gonna get it done." One, two, three bullet points. Those bullet points just need to say, "Here's when I'll turn it in, here's when I'll send you a rough draft, and I'll check in with you." This simple email, right away, takes a little bit of their stress away. And then what I want you to do is, the next day or two days later, I want you to shoot a quick email. Take that email you already sent them, forward it back to them and say, "Hey boss, just wanna give you an update. Project's going great, I'm gonna be on time for Friday, you know, really excited about it." This simple little check-in calms your boss down, lets them know you're on top of it. Lets them know you're the boss, you're reliable, you're gonna get things done. 

So then I want you to keep working on the 05:00 project, and then the night before the project's due, let's say the project's due Friday, I want you to email your boss at Thursday at 5 PM. Why Thursday at 5 PM? Because I want you to get credit before Friday. I wanna make sure your boss reads that email before they leave work on Thursday. And that email should be really simple. It just says, "Hey boss, here's a pre-read of the project. Feeling great about it. It's 90 percent done, or it's 100 percent done. Here's the most exciting part, or here's a question I have for you, or can you give me your advice, or I'm looking forward to tomorrow." Um, and then, just shoot that quick email, just a reminder to say, "Hey boss, I'm reliable, you can trust me, I'm getting things done." 

You turn in the project. And guess what? All of a sudden, look at what happened on that project. You've gotten credit for that project three times before you've even turned in the work. You have that first email where you sent a recap and an outline of how you're gonna work. You sent the second email to say, "Here's a quick update." You sent the third email to say, "I'm on schedule, here's a pre-read, check it out." And then that's all before you've even turned it in. So all of a sudden, now you're getting credit for a project four times rather than just one time when you turn it in. 

This is a huge difference. This is totally gonna change the way your boss sees you. All of a sudden, they're gonna say, "I like working with that person." The boss loves you. You're reliable, you get things done, you keep 'em in the loop, that's all any boss could ask for. So it's really simple. Remember, the journey is as important as the destination. 

Oh. I think I just changed your life forever. Maybe? Sort of? Kind of? Improved it just a little bit, just like the tiniest little bit, like just a little bit better than it was before? What do you think, Rob? Did I get it a little bit right? 

ROB: I think so. You changed my life. 

JUSTIN: Oh, alright. Well, that's good enough for me. Before we get to the second half of the podcast, I wanna pause for a word from our sponsor, Forlorn Hope Wines. Rob, let's hit the uh, ad theme music. Ready? And if you don't know, now you know. 

Alright, let's talk about Forlorn Hope Wines. Everybody knows that the wine is good. Everybody knows that Matt Rorick, the winemaker is awesome. Everybody knows that you can get 15 dollars off when you buy three or more bottles at forlornhopewines.com, by using the discount code MRCORPO. All capitals, no spaces. Everybody knows that. 

But what everybody doesn't know, what I wanna tell you today, for the first time, is why is it called Forlorn Hope? Here's the story. It's taken from the Dutch word, Verloren Upe, meaning lost truth. Forlorn Hope was the name given to the band of soldiers who volunteered to lead the charge directly into the enemy defenses. The chance of success for Forlorn Hope was always slim. But the glory and reward granted to these survivors ensured there was never any shortage of applicants. That's pretty cool. I'm not sure I'm the guy that's gonna join forlorn hope, I'm not sure I'm really the guy that's gonna run over the hill directly into the machine gun fire, but I get the concept and I think it's a rad name for starting a new project, for doing the impossible, and just saying, "The hell with it, let's do it." Maybe we should re-name this podcast Forlorn Hope. What do you think? 

ROB: Yeah, (inaudible). 

JUSTIN: Well, I mean, if he paid us enough money I would change it. I would call this podcast "Mr. Corpo loves Forlorn Hope Wines." Anyway, now you know why it's called Forlorn Hope. And if you don't know, now you know. 

Uh oh, Rob. It's that time again. 

ROB: What time's that?

JUSTIN: Bonus time! Bonus! Bonus time! Bonus time! Bonus time! Bonus time! Bonus section! Bonus section! Bonus time! Bonus time! Bonus section! Bonus time, I love you! Alright, super excited, that was a super enthusiastic introduction. For the first time ever on the Mr. Corpo podcast, we have a guest speak. 

FEMALE VOICE: Who?

JUSTIN: That wasn't even very exciting, Rob. 

ROB: I'm sorry! I'm really exciting. I'm trying to get the levels up. 

JUSTIN: Alright. We have our first guest on the Mr. Corpo podcast. I'd like to introduce Nick Grover. Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick! Grover! Nick, say something. 

NICK: I wish you guys would let me pick out my walk out music. 

JUSTIN: Oh, dude. Great idea. Next time. 

NICK: Regulate, Warren G, just in case you wanna know. 

ROB: I'll fix it in post. Alright. 

NICK: Yeah. 

JUSTIN: 10:01 Well, welcome to the show today, Nick. Uh, we're so excited to have you. 

NICK: Thanks for having me. This is a first-time experience for me so -- don't know what I'm getting into, but let's see where it goes. 

JUSTIN: Alright, well, let's go. So this open -- this episode, we're talking about bosses. We're talking about you and your boss, we're talking about being a boss, we're talking about all of it. So I just wanna open up the show, I wanna let everyone know, I used to be Nick's boss. That's why I brought him here. Right, Nick? Do you remember that? 

NICK: Oh, I remember. 

JUSTIN: What was it like? What was it like for -- for having me as a boss?

NICK: I think it was interesting. You know, you, uh, we've obviously been friends a long time, and you're -- you -- I was just getting to know you and -- when you were my boss. You have always been one of the like, most intense people I know, both like, intense in your friendship, intense in your, like, passion for work. So it's -- I think I was for sure a little bit intimidated by it. 

Um, you know, I think there's two things that I always think about when I think of like our first time together. One is, you're the first person I worked for that -- you know, you wear your emotions on your sleeve. Like, there is no lying when you work for Justin Kerr. Like, if you tell Justin Kerr, "Hey man, like, I got this awesome idea and you're super passionate about it," while you're telling the story of the idea to Justin Kerr, he is either looking at you like you're the smartest person who's ever lived, or the look on his face is like, you don't deserve to sit across from me and talk to me about anything. Like, what -- how did you get this job? Like, not only do I wanna fire you, but like, I wanna go and find the person who passed your resume to somebody and get you out of here. And it was like -- I mean it was one of the craziest but also, you know, first-time learning experiences of like, dealing with people for me when I was super young, starting out. And you know, I think it uh -- it's a skill set, right? You have to learn how to like manage up, you learn how to read people, and yeah, I think we had some funny experiences as a result of it. And um, you know, I -- one thing I will say I always appreciate about it is like, you knew if you had a good idea or if like, your boss was supporting you. And if you had a bad idea, like, you knew, alright, back to the drawing board. It was never a place of like -- it was come -- it was come back and show me something better, like, that's -- that's not gonna cut it, man. 

JUSTIN: Oh my gosh, I -- I honestly well, I -- okay, I don't know whether to make good or bad of that. I -- I -- you're kind of like -- are you being nice? It sounds like I was a little bit mean to you. 

NICK: You weren't mean to me. I think, you know, we -- we had an interesting thing where we knew each other a little bit before I started working for you. And you know, your work style and my work style were like literally polar opposites. Like we -- we were both pretty good at our jobs. I -- I -- you were -- you would consider yourself amazing at your job, and I would consider myself like -- I'm not like totally failing at this job. Um, but like, I -- I just like, the way I approached the work is very different from you. And I think we -- we had this kind of conversation early on, I remember. And then we definitely had it when, you know, you had an opportunity to like get promoted and take on a bigger team. And I had a different division where it was like, hey Nick, you know, I want you to keep like being yourself, I know we're different, and like, let's like see how this goes, you know? And I think if we were to like evaluate our boss manage -- like, managee, you know, direct rapport relationship, you'd be like, yeah, it didn't go so well. It didn't -- it wasn't a failure, but like, it -- like, we just didn't see eye to eye, or align in the right ways. 

And I -- it's actually something that's like stuck with me for my career as I've become a manager. Cause at that point in time I was just starting to like, learn what that meant, where you were like, listen, man, this was kind of a failure for us. And it's not cause you're don't know what you're doing, and it's definitely not cause I don't know what I'm doing, but like, we just didn't see eye to eye in this. Like, keep kicking ass, try again, like, with your -- whoever your next manager is. And like, you know, let's -- let's not let this like ruin that we, like, respect each other. 

And you're probably the only person I worked for, honestly, where like that actually was true. Like we -- we said, this didn't work, and like, I still think you're cool, and you -- I was like, I still think you're cool, and you're pretty smart, and like, let's just keep, you know, working together. And you became like a mentor for me from that point on, and you know, outside of our friendship, it's a reason like -- you've been like a person who's helped my career and helped me like learn new things for a long time. It was a -- it was a turning point for me as far as like how to work with somebody who, you know, you were very different from. 

JUSTIN: Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, I kinda had the same experience. And when I look back on it, I remember thinking, I really like Nick, but then when it came to the work part of it, I was kinda like, I really don't like Nick. And I couldn't quite figure out what it meant to kind of be -- not be your boss, but just kinda figure out 15:03 how to I reconcile these two things? There's like this great person who's super interesting and I like, and then when it came to the work stuff, how do I reach them? They're so different from me. And I -- and I think, you know, I was obviously much younger then, but I think that's one of the biggest adjustments for being a boss is, how do you work with people that aren't like you?

NICK: Totally. 

JUSTIN: Um, and it wasn't easy, you know? And I think as a result, probably the deeper back you go in my career, the more horrible things people would have to say -- say about me as a boss. Um, so you know, hopefully I've gotten better by now. But yeah, I had the same experience. And uh, you know, some things I would -- actually, almost everything I would do different, um, because I just didn't really have the empathy. You know? I really couldn't relate to people that didn't do things the way I did them. 

NICK: Sure, sure. 

JUSTIN: And I think that that's just -- now I realize that's one of the most important skills to have as a boss, and how do you listen, how do you figure out what motivates you, and let me get to that, let me help you get there, instead of trying to figure out, how do I make you just like me? And if you're just like me, you're gonna be awesome. And the truth is, not everybody wants to be like me, as -- as hard as -- as hard as it is for me to admit that, I've come to realize, not everybody wants to be like me. 

NICK: It's a small percentage of the world that doesn't want to aspire. But -- but there are a couple people out there. 

JUSTIN: Yeah, yeah. There's a few of them, right. I remember. Um, but anyway, well, well that's good. I'm glad we kind of made it through that. And I consider you one of my good friends now. So uh, you know, it's kind of shocking. We -- we stopped working together for a long time and now we're working together again. But I think it's better. now. Do you notice any difference from nine years ago to today? 

NICK: Totally. I mean, I think, you know, it's interesting because like, we work together now, and I -- I see how you work with like, the large team that you're responsible for, and -- and we work in like such a dynamic and strenuous, like, workplace. And I think, like, you've really, you know, the -- the guy that I first worked for, versus the guy I see like leading this like, huge, you know, global organization now, it's tot -- I mean, it's like, he's a total, he's the most, like, evolved person I've ever seen as far as like, you know, learning how to work with tons of different people. And across a -- you know, language barriers, and all those things, it's fascinating. So I'm actually super stoked to be working around you again just because like, I get the perspective of my like, experience to this point, but then I really feel like there's a lot more to learn, in like watching how you, you know, operate in the company. And like, lead people. So I'm -- I'm excited for like, the second, kinda, chance, if you will. 

JUSTIN: I'll take it. 

NICK: You do a little bit of your old -- that old dictator back. 

JUSTIN: Yeah. No, it's always simmering under the surface. 

NICK: Oh sure, oh sure, oh sure. 

JUSTIN: How many piles of sand can I put on top of my actual feelings, so -- 

NICK: Waiting to explore. 

JUSTIN: No, that's right. I just kind of come home and scream into a pillow. 

NICK: I still -- I still can show you a product presentation or any idea and know exactly -- literally within half a second whether I should just quit while I'm ahead or -- or just be like, oh, yep, we got it. I'll, uh, show this to you next week after I already look at it. So, some things will never change. 

JUSTIN: Alright, alright. Well, that's what comes with working together for a long time, so -- 

NICK: For sure, for sure. 

JUSTIN: Sounds good. Um, well listen, we're talking about bosses, we don't have to just talk about me and you. Uh, tell me about -- any experiences come to mind with old bosses or you being a boss, you're a boss with a lot of people, anything come to mind, any stories? 

NICK: It's interesting, like, you work in corporate America, you basically are like a 20-year-old, which, you know, when you are starting your job, you're like, I'm so old and wise, and then, now, ten years later, you're like what a fuckin idiot I was. Um, and you're like, yeah, but you're in charge of people. So you know, as 20-year-olds do, we like hung out a lot at work, and we for sure hung out a lot outside of work. And I think, you know, early on in my career, um, yeah, I -- of course I was new to the company, I wanted people to like me, I wanted people to like me as their boss, I wanted everyone to have a good time. And yeah, as a result, I'd be like hey guys, like, let's do fun things. And -- or, the team would do fun things. 

And so I remember like, it was a Christmas party, and we were at a -- like a karaoke event, and I had three very sweet, very smart, very lovely women reporting in to me, that were younger than me, and also just starting out. And we were all giving each other like, different karaoke songs, you know, just cause it was like a fun like, work time. And I was like, I wanna give people a hard song, like I want my team to have a hard song, that'll be funny. And I'm like cruising through, I like -- I listen to a lot of hip hop, but apparently like, don't actually listen to the words. And I was like, oh, Whisper Song, Ying Yang Twins. That's a tough song, that's a hard song to sing. I'll -- I'm choosing that one. And like, these three people are like pretty -- I mean like, I -- in my mind I was like, innocent, like my sisters, you know? 

JUSTIN: Wait, wait, wait. What's the Whisper Song? Like, what's a lyric from that song? 

NICK: There's a lyric that I remember every single time I hear about -- this is the chorus: "Just wait till you see my dick." 20:02 That is the chorus of the song that I chose for three direct reports at a corporate holiday event to sing. So side bar story: two of the -- two of the women were like, go with the flow, you know, this is embarrassing, like, we're just gonna do it, get it -- you know, it's four minutes of our lives. One of them just murdered that song. Like every lyric, every flow, every bar. Which I don't know if like, that was actually more amazing, or more scary. 

But my -- my like, moral of the story is like, there is this thing when you're a -- when you manage people, or you're a boss, like -- that's -- that's a 24/7 kind of experience. Like, you don't know the situation you're gonna be in, you know, I've had -- I've had people whose parents have found out their parents died in a meeting that I was in, and having to handle the personal side of it. I've obviously put people in this awkward situation of like, singing a -- really a foul song at work. And you know, it's like -- you have to really learn, like, you're always, you're managing these people, you're kind of cultivating your career, you represent the company, like, you have to really be thinking at all times. Like, fight the urge of being the friend, all -- which you want. You want people to like you as a friend. You want people to think you're like cool and fun. 

But like, you also have to be like a -- you know, a -- a -- a good boss. And -- you really have to be a good boss first. And I didn't know it at the time, and yeah, I think it's like, you -- it's hard, you start to separate yourself from people you like that report in to you on that super friendly level, to like really help them in their career, which -- that's your job. That's what the company wants you to do, that's what you hopefully, if you're a good boss, wanna do. But that's one of those stories where I like laugh initially, and then like, start to feel kinda sick to my stomach. 

JUSTIN: Well that's -- that's a good story. I mean, I think one of the things that -- that I relate to when you say that is, this idea of you know, when you become the boss, there's a moment at which people don't wanna party with you. So like, you grow up, and you're with your friends, you're with your co-workers, and you're going out, and you wanna be the life of the party, you wanna have fun. And then there's this moment where you realize, actually everyone's behaving themselves. Everyone's like tapping it down a little bit, and it's like, why is everyone being so calm? And then it's like, oh right, cause I'm the boss and I have to leave this party so that they can actually have fun. And that was definitely like a discouraging moment for me, when I was like, alright nobody wants to party with me. Actually, the party will start after I leave, uh, but I've kind of just accepted my fate in that way. 

But um, you know, it's just -- it's not easy, because being a boss, you really can't be yourself. You really can't -- I always have this instinct where I'm like, I'm great, I have so much passion and personality, I wanna like, let it all out and I wanna tell a joke. And it's more often than not, like, that's the moment that I get in trouble. It's like following my personal instinct to make fun of something or be sarcastic or like, be super enthusiastic. It's like, actually what the company wanted from you was just to stand still and shake their hand. They didn't want you to like do a funny joke about it. And I think that's always like the -- this side and that side and kind of reconciling yourself to working for a big company and you know, trying to be yourself in that world. 

But um, anyway. Uh, what else? Anything else? That was like a great story about you being a boss. What about like a boss story of someone that was above you? 

NICK: Yeah, yeah, I have an interesting one, I think. Like I was thinking about, just, you know, starting out, as you kinda tend to do. And first bosses. And this is like a quasi-boss story cause she wasn't actually my boss at the time, but when I was interviewing, to like -- to join, you know, the company we worked at for ten years, I had this experience where as a senior manager, SVP, head of like all -- basically like the most important person at the time for merchandising, the -- the -- the job I was interviewing for. And I -- you know, I was relatively new to the Bay Area, so it was like, it was -- you know, I'm from a -- a farm town in like Pennsylvania. The Bay Area is like, this like, place of wonder and like, you know, beauty. And I'm in -- uh, I'm in our building, and like, over -- all the like, super like, high up executives office, or like, the most insane thing I've ever seen, and they like, overlook the bay, you know, I -- I literally would get no work done, I would just like, daydream out the window. Um, and so I'm in this interview, and you know, I think I'm like, killing it, like I'm pretty motivated. I've -- I've like, I've done my homework, like I've -- I'm -- the vibe is good. The vibe is really good. 

And you know, halfway through the interview, the phone rings and she looks at the number on the phone and she's like, "Oh, Nick, I'm sorry. Uh, this is -- this is really important, I gotta take it." And I'm like, "No worries, you know, uh, I'm just gonna check out this view while you're on the phone, it's amazing." And like literally her energy changes from like super calm and like, chill, to like dagger eyes. And like, I -- in my -- and this is all happening in a millisecond. 25:03 So my body is just like, what just happened. My brain is like fire alarms, sirens are going off. And she like, kinda like, turns her head to me, like stares me down, she's like, "Nick, are you looking at my ass right now?" Like, that was the first -- like, that was how she took -- 

JUSTIN: She said that?

NICK: Yeah, she said that. This is -- she -- 

JUSTIN: She said, "Are you looking at my ass?"

NICK: Yeah, yeah. Those exact words. And I -- and I don't -- I literally actually can't remember like, what my reaction was. Like, I -- I actually don't know if I said anything. I may have just shut down completely, or I might have just said like, fumbled my way through like, this is -- the Bay is beautiful, like, look at this beautiful bay. Which -- which in retrospect, like, she may have said "Oh, that's totally unbuy -- unbuyable, like -- 

JUSTIN: Oh my -- wait, so what happened? 

NICK: Well, it -- I mean, I went home, and I was like, I'm not getting this job for sure. And I told, like, one of like the guys I knew at the company what happened. He's like, oh dude, I -- that doesn't sound good at all. And then there was literally radio silence for like three months. Like I -- I was like, looking for other jobs, like, man what a great opportunity, passed me by. And then like, I finally got the call, and they were like, yeah, we're totally hiring you. And to this day, I don't know like, did that help me get the job? This is a person of power, right? Like, whether I'm working for them or I'm interviewing with them, you're like, this person holds the cards to my future, and you -- you do. I found myself in a situation, I was like, I don't know what to do right here. Like, I -- I thought I was hot shit and you threw me a question that I was definitely off script, and I was like, I don't have a fucking answer for you. Like, do you want me to? Do you want me to check it out? Like, what -- what do I do?

JUSTIN: I mean, that's the thing, it's like, at some point, you know, you're saying, this is a person of power, this is a person who's gonna make a decision in my life. But then at another level, it's just a person. This is a human interaction at some level. So there's this dual level of man and woman, and then like, boss and interviewee, I mean -- that's super complicated. That's hilarious. 

NICK: It -- I mean, it's a -- yeah, it's a -- it's a fond, strange memory that I'll always have. I've -- if -- if you're curious, I've never reciprocated that in an interview process by asking anybody if they've been looking at my ass. 

JUSTIN: I think that's a good strategy, by the way. I think that's a really good strategy. Just stay away from that. 

NICK: Took -- probably took me like, till I was mid-30s to reach the level of maturity to -- to -- to say, Nick, that's a bad idea. Don't -- don't rip -- don't do that in an interview. 

JUSTIN: I don't think we can top that story. I mean, I literally think that might be -- we might never have another guest on this show. Alright, Nick, that was fantastic. Before we do, is there any last words, any shoutouts you wanna give to anyone out there, any revenge you wanna get on anybody, any girls that never returned your call, anything you wanna say?

NICK: Oh, I like this. Revenge. Yeah, I had a shitty boss early on. His name was Rob Voppel. And he's a horrible person. Rob Voppel, you know where to find me. 

JUSTIN: That's amazing. We've just created a platform for revenge on the Mr. Corpo podcast. I love that. I'm trying to think, who's the worst boss I've ever had. I can think of one guy comes to name, Brian Murphy. He was super annoying to me. But actually if I think of the worst boss, I think of myself when I first became a boss. I think the first two people -- the first two people I was the boss of both quit -- just like literally got up and quit one day in the middle of like a conversation. 

NICK: Have you ever made anybody cry? 

JUSTIN: Uh, yes. A -- a lot. 

NICK: Less than five? More than ten?

JUSTIN: More than ten. More than 20. 

NICK: Wow. 

JUSTIN: Um, it's not something I'm proud of. I'm just saying, that's something that's happened in my career. Um, I had this one guy who worked for me, his name was Scott. And for some reason, he could never spell words correctly. And so he would send emails and he would write the word "whether" and he would write it w-e-a-t-h-e-r. And so we -- we sat right across from each other and I would get his email and I would be like, Scott, just -- just so you know, the word "whether" is w-h-e-t-h-e-r and when you say "weather," that means like, it's sunny outside or it's snowing or something like that. And so I -- he would like, do this a couple times with like really basic words. And for -- at that time I was like, totally new to being a boss and I thought, my job is to correct every single thing that this person does wrong at any given moment in the day. And so I -- I did this, I kind of like corrected his spelling a couple times. And then he printed out a report for me, I'll never forget this, he handed it to me on my desk, he went out and he filled his water bottle with some more water and he came back in and I had marked up the page as I had a tendency to do, with my pen, and I handed it back to him and I said, "Hey, Scott, you know, uh, right here you misspelled the word whether. Um, so I just wanna make sure we correct that before we send it -- send it off to the boss." 30:01 And he literally put down the piece of paper, looked at me and said, "I quit." And I was like, sitting there, and I was just like, "What?" And he's like, "I quit. I can't do this anymore." And he literally grabbed his bag and walked out. 

I mean, liter -- Scott, if you are listening, I will get down on my hands and knees and say, I am so sorry. I was the worst boss that I possibly know. And that was all my fault, and I'm sorry that I didn't make it work. But anyway, uh, worst boss in the world, Justin Kerr. Let's end with that. Thanks so much, Nick. 

(music)

JUSTIN: Alright, that was amazing. I love having guests. You know what else is amazing? Working with my awesome producer, Rob Schulte. Rob, give a shoutout. 

ROB: Hey, (inaudible). 

JUSTIN: Dude, why do you need a job? You got a job here at Mr. Corpo. 

ROB: (inaudible)

JUSTIN: Actually I don't pay him enough, so yeah, News Corp, get on this thing. Um, alright, listen, two more things before we go. First, hit me on the social channels. Blow me up. I'm on Twitter at Mr_Corpo and I'm on Instagram at MRCORPO. Alright, before we go, I'm gonna leave you with a cut from Rich Girls' new album, Love Is The Dealer. Comes out in September. And the song is called "New Bag." Oh, Rob, should I mention that my wife is the lead singer of Rich Girls, or -- 

ROB: Uh, next episode. 

JUSTIN: Next episode, okay, I'll say that next time. Alright. Here we go. "New Bag."

(song)

34:35 

 



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