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To elaborate on why I declined: The District Manager left a voicemail for me asking when he could schedule a tour with me. He was 100% polite, but it sounded l

To elaborate on why I declined: The District Manager left a voicemail for me asking when he could schedule a tour with me. He was 100% polite, but it sounded like he was gritting his teeth. Maybe I was reading too much into it, but I interpreted it as, "My boss's boss is forcing me to give an idiot like you, someone probably with no experience in retail economics, a tour while I patiently pretend to listen to how you tell me to do my job better than me, a person with decades of experience in selling video games." If the situation were reversed I wouldn't want some rando customer coming into my job and telling me everything he thinks I'm doing wrong. Plus, I got the feeling (again, just my perception) that it would just be "here's what's wrong with this store" instead of "here's what's wrong with all of your stores." Maybe it was all in my head and they would have taken me seriously, I don't know. But that was the impression I got. And I was legitimately busy. Writing a letter takes 10 minutes, a tour and presentation of my ideas would obviously take a lot longer.

castlecrasher2 8y ago
You're probably not wrong. The internet's go-to description for CEOs and other executives is sociopath but I've found most leaders at the top to be humble and accommodating. If anyone fits "sociopath" it's more likely to be a middle manager, I find.
- buckminster 8y ago
  > I've found most leaders at the top to be humble and accommodating. They are just incredibly effective sociopaths. I'm not even sure if I'm joking.
snowwrestler 8y ago
I suspect this is exactly why the CEO reached out to you in the first place--because they know how hard it is to get open and honest feedback from the store and retail managers. Whether the district manager liked it or not, they absolutely would have had to report the results of your visit back to the CEO. And they would have had to be honest about it, since they knew the CEO could just call you back to check the accuracy. I don't blame you for not wanting to get in the middle of that, but I bet the CEO felt like it was a missed opportunity.

castlecrasher2 8y ago

You're probably not wrong. The internet's go-to description for CEOs and other executives is sociopath but I've found most leaders at the top to be humble and accommodating. If anyone fits "sociopath" it's more likely to be a middle manager, I find.

buckminster 8y ago
> I've found most leaders at the top to be humble and accommodating. They are just incredibly effective sociopaths. I'm not even sure if I'm joking.

snowwrestler 8y ago

I suspect this is exactly why the CEO reached out to you in the first place--because they know how hard it is to get open and honest feedback from the store and retail managers. Whether the district manager liked it or not, they absolutely would have had to report the results of your visit back to the CEO. And they would have had to be honest about it, since they knew the CEO could just call you back to check the accuracy. I don't blame you for not wanting to get in the middle of that, but I bet the CEO felt like it was a missed opportunity.