Jobless...

Quit my job, flipped off the boss, took my name off the payroll... "screw you man." Picked up my cell, rang my baby's bell said, "I'm three miles from home." I said, "Sugar wont you put on that sun dress I like so much... Wait out by the road, I'm commin' to pick you up!"

Well, not really... But I did walk away from my job and I am working temporarily for some friends driving truck during harvest. A lot has happened since I last posted. I moved from my Director of International Programs position about a year and a half ago. I took a job at a small private Christian College and was employed there as their Director of Undergraduate Enrollment. I was there for a year and six months. We were shooting for a 20% increase and we got a 9% increase. My boss was upset because the administration decided to base this year's budget off a 20% increase instead of a historical benchmark. So when we had a 9% increase, it wasn't considered a win. I attempted to give him perspective based on what was happening in the industry. Some of the State Universities were down 15% to 20% and another private was down 11%... so considering where others were at... We were doing well. He wanted nothing to do with perspective... He was like a little kid... Upset because the numbers didn't turn out how he wanted them to... So, he called me into his office and met me with the Human Resource Director there. He decided that we needed to move more in the direction of a results driven environment. I don't have a problem with results, I want them as badly as the next person; however, I have the perspective that you work as hard as you can for the Lord and allow him to bless your efforts. His perspective was that if you didn't achieve the results, you didn't work hard enough. But then he was a control freak... I argued that if we were going to shift our focus towards a results driven environment, then by default we were taking our eyes of the Lord. That I even had to have this discussion at a college where Christ was supposed to be central to everything we did was bewildering to me. So he gave me a lecture about how he needed a director that was in alignment with his leadership and philosophies and that he was giving me 60 days to come into alignment with him and if I didn't, he could fire me at will. He then had the human resource director explain my severance package should I opt to leave... And then he prayed for me. (Which seriously about put me over the edge... But I didn't say anything... I just got up and walked out.) We had a couple more conversations and toward the end of these conversations... I asked him that if I followed his prescribed methodology and we still only received a 9% increase instead of a 20% increase, that... He interrupted and said, "yep... Then shame on me..." I responded by shaking my head and said, "Mike, you're missing the point. You are not in control... But that is not what I was going to say..." I continued by saying that he was looking for alignment... But that alignment goes both ways... And after throwing me under the bus with the president and VP for finance, that it was clear that he did not have my back. I asked (based on how this has all gone down), that if we followed his prescribed methodology and we still only had a 9% increase instead of a 20% increase... whether he would have my back this time or if it would be more of the same? His simple response was "more of the same." With that response, I chose to walk away. But in walking away, my separation agreement had a confidentiality clause whereby I could only talk about this with my wife, my employment lawyer, or my tax accountant. Knowing full well that if I signed the separation agreement, that I would become accountable before the Lord for maintaining complete confidentiality... I chose to walk away from an $11,500 severance package with my integrity intact. I have friends and family that I need to explain what happened. Future employers, my staff... They all deserve(d) an explanation of what happened. So, on to the new job... Wherever that may be. I trust the Lord will provide.