"Hungry for Success" by English Professionals. EPISODE 20 : Straight from the horse's mouth

Steve's full front assault fails

Transcript

HUNGRY FOR SUCCESS : Episode 20

“Straight from the horse’s mouth”

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Tim quickly sat down at his desk before answering Steve’s call.

“Steve, what’s going on?” he whispered  into his mobile

Tim didn’t know why he was whispering. Given the distance between his desk and the nearest colleague, he was unlikely to be overheard.

Steve’s voice lacked some of its usual confidence.

I was ambushed - didn’t see it coming. Never expected him to take the nuclear option. Didn’t think he had it in him. 

“Steve, what are you talking about?  Tell me exactly what happened”,  interrupted Tim. 

Steve breathed in deeply - Tim could hear the sound of his breath clearly.

“You know me - always favour a direct frontal assault”. 

“For once speak in English” -  Tim thought to himself

“So what happened”, he repeated.

Steve finally seemed to focus on what he was being asked 

“A couple of weeks ago I got a call from a headhunter. They were looking for a sales director for a new startup - someone who knows the industry. My name was top of the list they said. Well, anyway I told them I wasn’t interested. Why take the risk on a startup ? At my age”

This was the first time Tim had ever heard Steve express any kind of uncertainty, doubt, or admit any weakness whatsoever. Clearly these were not ordinary times.

Steve continued.

“Anyway after a while I decided to play along anyway. Maybe I could get some useful intel. Met up with a couple of guys a week ago. Two of them - you know the type - fresh out of university. Think they can change the world. They have this new software -AI  artificial intelligence they call it. Apparently it will wipe out the need for human support techies.  But, they don’t know the battlefield. 

“Back to the military idioms”, groaned Tim inwardly

Steve went on -

“Well I told them I would think about it. As i always say, don’t go to a gunfight with a knife”

What relevance this particular idiom had to the subject in hand, Tim was not immediately able to grasp.

“Anyway I was sitting at my desk this morning thinking about Macrosoft and where this would leave me. I’m not getting any younger you know”

Another admission of weakness. Tim noticed.

“Suddenly it hit me like a bullet. I could use this. What is it you finance guys say? - leverage. So I decided on a surprise attack, go in with all guns blazing”

Ignoring the succession of confusing military idioms, Tim interrupted him impatiently.

“What did you do, Steve?”

I went straight in and told James - you need me more than I need you. Either you give me what I want, or I can’t guarantee that this Macrosoft campaign will go ahead. 

“You threatened him?” said Tim

“It’s just negotiations, Tim, you know how it is give and take, push and pull” said Steve

“And instead he fired you”  said Tim

“Not then. He wasn’t too happy but he asked me what I wanted. I said I wanted a slice of the pie. I told him I knew what he was up to. For some reason that seemed to set him off and he blew his top. Starting shouting about he had no choice. If I was in his place I would have done the same thing.

What did he mean?  asked Tim

To tell the truth I got the idea that he didn’t want any part of this deal but somehow he was being forced to do it.

Forced by who?  interrupted Tim again. 

“Your guess is as good as mine” said Steve “although he did say he wished he’d never ever met that woman”

“Which woman?” said Tim

“Libby Jones”  said Steve

Commentary

We already know that Steve loves to use idioms and, in particular those related to the military and fighting in general. He seems to believe that he and his sales team are involved in a war.  So it’s inevitable that any conversation with Steve is going to include a lot of these expressions. Despite Steve’s over-use and sometimes inappropriate use of these idioms, all of them are in common-usage.  Although probably most people use less of them in every paragraph than Steve does.

Steve believes he was ambushed. Use of this term, in this contect, means being caught unawares by a tactic that you weren’t expecting. The clear implication is also that the person who caught you had planned in advance to do so, intending to gain some advantage over you.. 

The nuclear option refers to making an extreme choice. There is nothing more serious than taking the nuclear option - it is the ultimate solution. Presumably Steve believes that James firing him is an extreme action - one which he wasn’t expecting.

Steve prefers a direct front assault - obviously an expression coming from the military. In normal day-do-day usage, it means approaching something directly without hesitation or delay and without diplomacy. There is no attempt to even try to hide your intentions.

Steve decides to “play along” with the headhunters even though he claims not to be interested in a new job. If you play along with something, it means you pretend that you are doing a particular thing - in reality you are only pretending - usually in order to obtain more information. In this case Steve is pretending to be interested because he thinks he might be able to obtain some useful intel. Intel is short for intelligence and refers to information not widely known. 

Steve curiously then uses the idiom “don’t go to a gunfight with a knife”. I really like this idiom. You may be able to guess its meaning. Basically the expression means to ensure that you are adequately prepared and equipped before going into a difficult or potentially dangerous situation. If you go to a gunfight with a knife, you are unlikely to be able to use your knife without being shot first. The gun being a superior weapon in this context.  I assume that Steve means he needs something to use to fight James - since James has the power which comes from being Steve’s boss.  Steve believes that perhaps an alternative job offer would allow him to have a defence against James’ ability to fire him.

Steve clearly lacks the ability to behave diplomatically or subtly - he favours a surprise attack and entering with “all guns blazing”. In other words literally shooting his guns as he enters - not waiting to see the response of those inside. Such an approach is often considered unwise and even reckless. Many would argue that it would be more sensible to tread carefully checking the response first before deciding how to act. In essence, it’s the opposite of being patient or careful. No wonder then that the response Steve received from James wasn’t positive,

Steve describes his negotiating technique as give and take, push and pull. What he means is that he offers something expecting to receive something in return. The other party to the negotiation also offers concessions but expects compromises to be made in return.

Steve demands “a slice of the pie”. He means a portion of the benefits that will result from the Macrosoft deal. He mentioned earlier , in a previous episode, that he believed James would use money he received for his shares in the company to retire. Steve wants to benefit in some way from the takeover.

Steve’s direct frontal assault does not have the intended result. In fact he says that his request to have a slice of the pie sets Jamesoff. In other words, Steve’s request causes James to become angry. He then blows his top - which means to explode with anger. The next thing we can assume is that he fired Steve.

Given Steve’s departure, we are left with only Sue and Tim to find out what is going on. Why does James regret meeting LIbby Jones? You would think he would be happy - given that he stands to receive a lot of money if the sales goes through. Perhaps James is part of the scheme in some way - perhaps he does know that the Macrosoft takeover is not real. Find out more when Tim and Rebecca start to discover the truth. .

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