"Hungry for Success" by English Professionals. EPISODE 14 : Trust

Tim has to decide who to trust

Transcript

Hungry for Success

Episode 14 : “TRUST”

Tim sat at his desk lost in thought. 

“A penny for them” said a voice behind him

Derek materialised suddenly in front of the desk.

“Feeling guilty about something?” he asked

Tim momentarily wondered whether Derek could read his mind. He did feel guilty but he didn’t really know why. Was he doing the wrong thing? If so, what else could he do?  Meeting with Sue and plotting at home with Rebecca had seemed exciting earlier on but now it just left a bad taste in his mouth. For some reason he felt disloyal. Disloyal to who? To James?  Perhaps yes

Derek, if he did know what Tim was thinking, wasn’t letting on. Derek had been with LIghtning Systems almost since the beginning. He was in fact the first person that James’ father had hired. Thirty years ago, Henry, James’ father,  had started the business literally from his garage at home. On finally moving to a small office rented from a shipping company he had decided that he needed an assistant and a somewhat younger Derek had fitted the bill. 

In the LIghtning Systems of today it was difficult to define exactly what contribution Derek was making to the business. He was just there. He had always been there. Tim had inherited him with the job. True Derek did have a defined role - that of assistant to Tim. True - he carried out the various tasks which Tim assigned to him in an acceptable manner. Clearly he wasn’t going to set the world on fire - as Steve might say. But every team needs a variety of players. There are those that take the ball, do something clever, and score a goal but there are also those, probably the majority,  who form the quiet second row of the team. They perform all those mundane tasks which never get noticed until they don’t happen and then everything falls apart. Tim had always seen himself as a centre forward in the team - in other words someone who scored the goals. Now just for a moment, and not for the first time recently,  he wondered whether he and Derek were actually more alike than he would care to admit. Perhaps in reality he too was part of the second row - making chances for others rather than taking them himself.. He stopped himself - no time for self-reflection.

On a whim he asked “did you prefer working with Henry, Derek”?

Derek paused. 

“Why do you ask, boss”? he replied

“No particular reason” Tim countered  “just curious”

“Is it because of the takeover”?  said Derek

Tim once again was gobsmacked. Derek knew about the takeover. Who had told him?  And, more importantly, what exactly did he know.

“Not just a pretty face, eh” said Derek breaking the silence

Tim looked at his assistant. Derek was not smiling - he was serious … for a change. Tim wasn’t sure what to say. Should he confide in Derek or better keep his cards to himself?

“you’re wondering whether you can trust me” said Derek - as if once again reading Tim’s mind

Tim remained stony-faced.

“I guess it depends …” Derek went on  “where you stand and … where I stand”

Tim had always felt that it was unwise to confide too much in Derek - whatever the subject. Derek was known as the office gossip. True he was often a useful source of information. It was also true that Tim had sometimes used this propensity to gossip to pass on information when, for example, he wanted something to be known but didn’t want to be seen to be the official source.

In the past for instance a difficult team member had been persuaded to resign voluntarily having been made aware unofficially (through Derek) that she was likely to get fired. A quiet word in the right ear could sometimes be much easier and more effective than going through official HR protocols.

“Yes - you can” said Derek interrupting the silence between them

“I can what” asked Tim

“You can trust me” replied Derek



NOTES

Tim is not having an easy time. It’s only Wednesday and he’s already heard that his company is going to be taken over, joined a group of colleagues to potentially work against the owner of the company, discovered that something is not quite right about the takeover, and throughout it all, he’s going through a difficult time at home with his marriage -although ironically that part may actually be improving.

His mind is full of thoughts - so it’s not surprising that when Derek enters he’s lost in thought - in other words so focused on his thoughts that he doesn’t notice anything around him.

Derek approaches and says a penny for them. This is part of an expression - “a penny for your thoughts”. We say this when we notice that somebody is obviously distracted by thinking about something and we want to know what it is. It’s a gentle request rather than a demand - hence the offer of a penny - literally to buy the answer.

Tim is obviously conflicted because he feels that he owes a certain level of loyalty to James. After all, James hired him. He feels guilty about plotting behind James’ back. Plotting is when you secretly make plans usually with the aim of causing some harm or damage to someone or something. It does usually have a negative connotation but perhaps in this case Tim is being a little too self-critical, given that it seems James is not being entirely honest with the staff.

Nevertheless he says that it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. This expression describes something which you have done which causes you to feel a sense of having done something wrong and therefore guilty and generally bad about it.

For example - “

“the fact that I accidentally helped him to fire my colleagues leaves a bad taste in the mouth”

The problem for Tim in this immediate moment is that he doesn’t know exactly how much Derek really knows. Derek is not letting on which means not telling him. We now learn a little more about Derek. Apparently he is a long-standing employee - having been hired by Henry, James’ father, 30 years earlier because he fitted the bill. If something fits the bill it means that it is appropriate and suitable given the requirements. Henry was looking for an assistant and Derek met his requirements -  whatever they were.

Derek would never set the world on fire in Tim’s opinion. He means that Derek would never do something incredible or sensational. In other words Tim dismisses him as someone who will just do a mundane job to an acceptable standard - nothing special but nothing particularly bad either.

For some reason, on a whim (meaning suddenly having an idea often without any real explanation why), Tim asks Derek whether he preferred working with Henry (James’ father). Derek then lets on that he knows about the takeover - leaving his boss, Tim, gobsmacked (or extremely surprised) 

Derek sees Tim’s surprise and responds by saying “not just a pretty face” using an expression which literally means that he is intelligent as well as physically attractive.

For example

So you’re not just a pretty face. That’s a fantastic idea.

So, as if Tim didn’t have enough to think about. Now he has one more thought - should he trust Derek or not?


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