The New Leader, A Story

 By Nate Feldman

                                                              The New Leader

 

            Dan was a field coordinator for a political campaign.  He organized volunteers to spread the word about the candidate he was working for.  He worked in a small office on Main street with four other coordinators and Brian, the manager.  It was a very informal office, so everyone was on a first-name basis there.

            One day, Dan arrived to work.  All of the other coordinators were there, but the manager wasn’t.  “Where’s Brian?,” he asked the others before heading to his desk.

            “I have no idea,” answered Scott, one of his colleagues.

            Dan shrugged and went to his desk to begin making a list of things he had to do that day.  He focused on that for about 10 minutes.  He looked up from what he was doing and noticed the manager still wasn’t there.  “Brian’s still not here,” he said to the others.

            “Why don’t you give him a call?,” responded Eric, another colleague.

            Dan picked up his phone.  He noticed a message.  It was from Brian.  “Not coming in today.  Run the office for me.  Thx!” 

            “Oh, he’s not coming in.  I just got a message.  He said I should run the office.”

            The others looked at Dan.  “Are you serious?,” asked Manny.

            “Yeah,” responded Dan.  I’ll show you the message.

            The others got up and checked for themselves.  After that, they sat back down at their desks.

            “So what is on the agenda today?,” asked Nick. 

            Dan froze.  He wasn’t sure exactly what to say.  He had never held a position of leadership like this before.  “I guess do your business,” he answered. 

            The others looked at one another and smirked.  Dan didn’t know how to interpret this, but he was concerned it meant they thought this might be a day off.    

            Suddenly the four surrounded Dan.  At first he didn’t respond as this caught him off guard completely.  However, as they got closer to him, he realized something was up.

            “What are you doing?” he asked quizzically. 

            “We’re tying you up,” Nick said, hiding a smirk. 

            “What?,” Dan asked before they grabbed him and put him in his chair.  Manny ran to his desk and pulled a bag from under it.  He pulled out a long piece of rope. 

            “Get off me!,” Dan screamed at them, but Brian covered his mouth with his palm. 

            The four co-workers tied Dan to his chair and covered his mouth with duct tape.  They then laughed and walked out of the office.

For Discussion:

*Have you ever dealt with a stressful situation like this?

*How would you feel if your colleagues did this to you?