Desilusão

Several months ago, back when Hugh Marlboro first approached me with a job offer, I thought we had a common understanding of the direction in which he wanted to take his business(es). He spoke of massive expansion, professionalization, long-term strategy that would lead him to be one of the largest agricultural companies in Southern Africa, and an eventual IPO on the Johannesburg stock exchange.

We were dreaming big, brainstorming together. My role would be to help with strategy formulation, develop business plans, implement management and operational guidelines, and act as an MBA-educated, straight-talking sounding board for his ideas.

He told me that I would be his shadow, that he saw in me the qualities he knew were essential to be able to run something like the Banana Empire. Hugh Marlboro said that somehow, even if a bit inexplicably, he knew that I was the person that could eventually take his place.

The first few weeks of my job experience were positive. Hugh Marlboro gave me lots of personal attention. I went with him on farm visits and to negotiate new land for his projects. We spent hours talking about his vision for the various companies he owns, how to reach those goals. He assigned me a challenging task - to develop an operations plan for the clearing agency - and within a week I was up to speed on all the import and export procedures, and had put together a super plan and presentation that, according to Hugh Marlboro, was exceptional.

He never implemented the plan. Nor did he assign me any challenging work again in the following three months of my experiential period.

Somehow, due to lack of time or lack of attention or lack of ability to delegate or whatever, I slowly fell into idleness in my job. Hugh Marlboro would leave the office for extended periods and not assign me any tasks or projects in his absence. At most, he'd ask me to schedule a meeting with so-and-so at the Ministry of Agriculture, or RSVP on his behalf to Standard Bank's holiday cocktail party. Unfortunately, my position in the company became one of glorified personal assistant, and I honestly spent 90% of my time at the office searching desperately for ways to keep myself occupied.

The silver lining in this situation was that it was in these idle moments that I got to know aspects of the Banana Empire that had nothing to do with my original job description. For example, I became friends with the boys in the warehouse. It started out with me going downstairs to sit with them and pass the time. I'd ask about the logistics of the operation, where the trucks were coming from, how the clients knew that we were selling potatoes and onions, how the cash sales were recorded, what to do when a truck full of rotten product was sent up from South Africa. I got to know their operation cold, and in the process made amazing friendships that became the fodder for this blog.

Part of me truly thought that, despite the fact that I was unequivocally underutilized during my experience period, Hugh Marlboro still saw the value I could add to the Banana Empire and would extend me a contract and a reasonable salary anyway, if nothing else to keep me around for the day when he really could use my skills in the company. Part of me, however, knew that nothing was guaranteed.

What I've learned about Hugh Marlboro in the past several months is that he is extraordinarily impulsive, and has a tendency to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I still very much see the positive, near-genius, visionary qualities to his personality; however, they have been tempered by a nice sobering look at the other side of Hugh Marlboro. It was this second side, unfortunately, that dominated our conversation last Thursday.

I'd been bothering him for over a week to have the big talk about my potential contract and salary. When we finally sat down, Hugh Marlboro kept it short and to the point.

"Ali, I can't afford to pay you any more than your current [pitifully under market value] salary. The truth is, at this point you are a luxury to me and not a necessity. I still believe you are the person who can do what I do, that you have what it takes to be the CEO; however, I don't know how to put you to good use. I don't need two Hugh Marlboros at the moment. I realize that I could have hired a much less-qualified person to do the job you've ended up doing."

"I agree," I said, "You have not really taken advantage of what I can offer the company. However, we've been talking about several projects in the near future that you'd like me to take on. I think the situation can change..."

Hugh Marlboro considered my point, then proceeded to give me a pathetic excuse. "Well, a big part of the problem has been the transport issue. You have no car, so you're stuck at the office all day. It just kills me to know you are here with no work to do. I need you in the field with me, where I can say, 'Ali, go to Dr. Geraldo's office and negotiate a tax exemption for these vehicles.' But since you don't have wheels, I can't really use you."

I was tempted, but I didn't take the bait. When Hugh Marlboro originally offered me this position, he said he'd give me a car. Then, when I asked him about the details of getting me a vehicle, he backed out of his original promise and said I could use the shared company car to drive myself to and from work every day, but nothing else, no personal use. I didn't take him up on the offer because the vehicle in question is a junker and I was afraid it would break down and leave me stranded somewhere along the 25km commute. Furthermore, most of the time the company car wasn't even available for me to use during the day because Nacho would take it to the border or to the customs holding area to resolve the import/export processes with the trucks of bananas and other produce.

Instead of going into those issues, I simply observed, "It's ironic, isn't it, that I've bought a car and will have it within the next two weeks," leaving out the bit about how incompetent Miss Ludmila had stalled the import process for my car, and had she done her job properly, I'd have had my own wheels three weeks ago.

At this point in the conversation, I proposed a way for us to move forward. I told Hugh Marlboro that perhaps the best arrangement for me was not to be 8 hours per day in the office, that we should instead collaborate on a project-by-project basis where I could act as a consultant.

He agreed, and said we could move forward in that manner, that many things could change quite quickly. "Who knows," he said, "Maybe tomorrow I will figure out how to use you in my company and I will call you back to take over an entire part of the operation."

He continued, "Until then, you can work through the end of this month. After that, you can even continue to use your office for a while, to conduct whatever business you might need to. I won't even charge you rent."

At that point, I knew the conversation was drawing to a close. I wanted to give Hugh Marlboro some honest feedback from my experience with the Banana Empire, and didn't know when else I might have the chance.

"Listen," I began, "there are a few things I'd like to tell you, straight up."

His head cocked, suddenly interested in what I might say.

I took a deep breath, then went on. "First, you need a Human Resources manager. This is a critical function for a company this large, and it is completely falling through the cracks. Ludmila can't keep up with personnel issues for the entire Empire now that you've put her in charge of the clearing agency, and it is in your best interest to hire somebody to pick up the slack."

"Okay," he said, nodding.

I continued. "Second, you say that I'm a luxury and not a necessity at this point. Okay, I can accept that, especially if you truly don't know how to put me to good use within your company. However, I think you should identify the people that *are* a necessity to your operation and recognize them, invest in them, make sure they are challenged and motivated to stay with you. You have some exceptional people working for you right now, people who make this thing function on a day-to-day basis, an I can tell you that they are all looking for other jobs because they are paid such low wages for what they do."

"Who are you talking about?"

"The boys in the warehouse. Ahmed, Paulo and Raimundo. In my nearly three years in Mozambique, these guys really stand out in terms of their work ethic, their honesty, their dedication to the company and their willingness to go above and beyond their job descriptions whenever necessary."

"Tell me more about them," Hugh Marlboro said. "What do these guys do? Who are they?"

I went on to list each of their strengths, describe their personalities, recount a bit of my experiences with them over the past few months. I told Hugh Marlboro how Ahmed is a "do-er" with a gift for organizing and leading work crews, how Paulo can keep impeccable records and settle any dispute diplomatically, how Raimundo is able to do basic accounting and handle huge amounts of cash with total transparency.

"I know you are going to shut down the fresh produce warehouse," I said. "I don't necessarily agree with the decision strategically speaking, but it is your call at the end of the day, and I respect that. However, I think you'd be seriously amiss not to find a way to employ these guys in another area of the company."

"Okay," Hugh Marlboro said. "I hear what you are telling me." He stared me straight in the eyes for several minutes, lips pursed, nodding his head slowly as he gathered his thoughts.

"I have a proposal," he finally said. "As you know, I'm having problems with the local banana sales. We're having lots of thefts, the current process is inefficient, and I think Luigi is making a profit on the side."

"Go on."

"We will do an experiment for 30 days. Ahmed and Paulo will run the local banana sales, and you will manage the entire operation. This is the opportunity of their lives," he said. "Do you think they can do it?"

"Absolutely, but only if they feel it is worth their while. You must compensate them for their work."

"Okay. I will double their salaries," he proposed.

"At the very minimum."

Despite my deception and frustration regarding the conversation, I was suddenly extremely excited for the possibility that the boys could get a really good deal for themselves.

"Okay," Hugh Marlboro said, clapping his hands and getting up quite suddenly from his desk. "You talk to the guys and make a plan. We will have a meeting with everyone and talk about this tomorrow."

And with that, he picked up his keys and walked out, leaving me alone in the overly air-conditioned office. I felt dizzy, nearly sick to my stomach, not sure whether to be upset or hopeful. I could feel tears stinging in my eyes, and took a few minutes to sit at my desk and have a cup of tea before going downstairs to talk to Ahmed and Paulo...

Much more to follow... As usual, I've gotten carried away and become long-winded. I am tired of writing for tonight.