Page 143 - MY STORY

major role in the program’s successful completion. Bruce,

however, had a couple of small failings. He was very
much a maverick in his attire, and had an “attitude.”
“Attitude” was expressed by impatience and open

irreverence in the presence of senior managers. “Attire”
was evidenced by long sideburns and clothing that closely
followed the trend of the moment, no matter how flashy

and bizarre. Picture the Nehru jacket, suede shoes, and
hippie era. We were going through the layoff (previous
story) and I had finally finished compiling my list of

personnel that we had to lay off. Bruce’s name was not
on that list. The day after turning in this dreaded list, my

immediate boss, Bob Z, asked me to meet in his office.

The meeting went something like this:

>Bob Z: “Why isn’t Bruce’s name on this list?”

>Me: “Bruce is one of the company’s star performers, and
he just finished supporting a highly successful
multimillion-dollar program, with a lot of customer kudos.

I would not even consider him close to being on a layoff
list.”