setting the gears in motion…

Working at the same company for 6 years has been very rewarding on my part specifically because I have been able to develop some employees and made them enjoy their jobs and their lives. However, it is sad to say, but I do not have that same kind of leadership from my own boss.

To put it bluntly, my boss is a self serving manipulator. A year ago, I finally got fed up with seeing my income steadily decrease over the last 3 years and no compensation adjustment to account for it. I decided to go and ask for a raise.

So I’m in his office and I ask him for a raise. He immediately says, “No!” So I brought my points up to him on how I, as an executive, had led his company for 5 years without a raise and took on more duties than I had ever taken on and how I was the hardest and most dedicated employee he had. He scoffed at the notion and was adamant in his resolve, so I began to feel that this was a losing battle. However, all of a sudden, I realized that we were arguing about the possibility of a raise and he had not considered how much of a raise I was asking for.

So I asked him, “After all this debate, have you even asked how much I am asking for? What if I told you I was only asking for an additional $1000?” He all of a sudden realized how inconsiderate his position was and had an almost embarrassed look on his face. I was stewing in anger at that point and told him that I deserve this after all the loyalty I had shown him over the years when others had not. I told him that either he gives me the raise or I leave the company. He asked me what I would do and I told him that I had a lot of money saved up and I was going start my own business. He tried to turn the table on me and replied, “It looks like you have already made up your mind, why would you ask me for a raise then?”

In response, I said, “The other 2 times in the 6 years I have been here, I have asked you for an adjustment and you have completely disregarded them and made me feel completely absurd for asking for them. This time, it seemed to be heading in the same exact path. The difference between this time and the previous 2 times was that I was not prepared to leave and that was my downfall.”

He finally began to realize his position and how terrible of a person he was… at least I would feel that way if I were him. So he said he would think about it over the weekend and get back to me on Monday.

The sad thing was, during the weekend, I was happy that Friday may have been the last day I worked. After having that conversation, I vowed that I could not let my future be dependent on a selfish fuck like him. So whatever the outcome, I would make plans for my future departure.

I ended up getting the raise that I deserved. But the gears had been set into motion…..

Over the last year, I began to formulate the ideas of my restaurant into a composition notebook. I brainstormed menu items, marketing strategies, etc and just put them on paper. I had the main idea for my restaurant about 2 years back, it was only in my head. Once the gears had been set into motion, everything began coming together.