This Time, I'm Stumped

The simple act of pulling someone aside, having a few words in private with them, and then moving on, could solve so many problems.

The act of speaking to another, without an audience, and to lay the issues on the line, shows that the need for correction is important enough to mention, and it is not being mentioned for the benefit an audience would give the person in charge.

This can be called sincerity, and it is a very effective, and essential part of leadership.

Seeking an explanation, offering a warning, and laying out a plan of correction is always Plan A.  When it does fall onto the pages of the local paper, then something has gone awry with one of the parties involved.  Initially, it should never get that far unless the problem is very severe.

When the person with the most power in their pocket wants to remind folks of that fact, then grand issues are made of smaller ones.  It also happens when the person being reprimanded is resistant to working with those in charge.

Now, there are times when one is left without much of a choice, and a punishment must be handed down, and if done appropriately, it should correct, and prevent future issues.  If done inappropriately, or in a way as to exert ones authority, or if the person at fault is just pissed off at being spoken to, then it will end very differently from what both parties want.  Termination, or quiting, just opens up another problem, and that is filling the void left by the exit.

It happened here in town recently.  I don't profess to know anything more than what I have read in the papers about this specific issue, but what I do know is that the manner in which an issue is handled is the key to a successful conclusion.  It may have been handled in a good way in the beginning , and evolved into what looked like something else in the papers later on.  We'll never know.
Unless the public is made aware of ALL the history behind an issue, the public will listen to rumor and innuendo, half heard conversations, make up reasons on their own, and place the blame where they feel it should go, not where it should go.  Whether the powers that be are right, or wrong, without full disclosure, that is just how things go.  Always has.

It would be nice to know for once what the real issue is when it was first discovered, and how it was initially handled.  Sometimes, the action at the end does not fit the picture, and  in this case the action was quitting.

That's what I'm thinking this morning.  What would cause one to quit ones position after a one day suspension?  Was it the way in which they were treated in regards to the issue, or was it only the tip of the iceberg, and getting out while the getting was good was the only way?

Now, I don't think we will ever really know, because personnel matters aren't discussed in public here in town I've been told, they're simply hinted at in the newspapers.