Wow...
In all my days, I've NEVER met a boss who was willing to lose ground to a foreman.
The idea that you can second guess the social dynamics -- based upon what only one party is telling you -- who's trying to get a job...
That's gossip at best.
I can't imagine hiring an employee who figures that he's entitled to win half the arguments.
Whenever I ran across such players -- they had to be canned/ laid off/ put on reserve status.
We're in the pipe and wire installation business. It's not a debate club. It's not supposed to be a soap opera.
Boy, do we have different management styles. Too often, I've worked with guys who did things wrong because they could blame the foreman.
I think it was Rommel (tank commander) who said that you should use the battle plans of your generals because they carry them out more enthusiastically. So, I encouraged input from my guys and used their ideas that were workable.
If they refused to lose, then they must go. If they did things that they knew are wrong, they also must go. Usually, when someone thought I made a mistake, it was because they didn't understand the instructions. So, I looked at the results and asked if what they did made sense. If the answer was 'no', then they were reprimanded.
I'm a team player and my charges are on my team. We succeed or fail as a team.
It seemed like a good management style until I met a guy who insisted on running a conduit where I suggested BX. When he couldn't make the conduit work, instead of installing the BX, he said the job couldn't be done. What an idiot!
I value problem-solvers. Those people are the generals on my team. I expect my generals to keep me safe. When my employers made me the general, I also kept them safe. The last employer quit supervising me. He said that I worried about the company more than he did.
When I started with him, he had a used minivan. When I left, he was doing millions per year. He was a good businessman and electrician and let me look after him. When I left, he quit taking holidays.
Tesla, you would have fired me.
