Tin god managers....

Have you guys ever worked for or known a small business manager that thought they were god?

I know that there's a lot of responsibility in running a business. Sometimes you can't please everyone (employees or customers) no matter how much you try. This however doesn't give anyone the authority to throw their weight (no matter how much or little of it they have) around.

I had an older co-worker share something with me one time that I'll never forget. He'd had a very difficult customer just leave the business and I was astonished at how calm he'd remained during the fight she was trying to pick. He pointed towards the door of the store and said, "That's the happy door. Some you're happy to see coming in it, others you're happy to see go out of it."

In every management job I had after that, I applied that reasoning to both customers and employees. I guaged my performance by returning customers and the longevity of employees. Managers that lose customers over stupid shit or has a high turnover in employees isn't doing a very good job.

I have been out of the "salaried work for someone else" life for about 5 years now. I figured out that if I was going to have to work for an asshole that it might as well be me. As far as dealing with "little tin gods" that think they own the world.... I choose where I spend my dollars.