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A couple of years ago I was in a typical situation with an employee, where they had become unproductive and had not been getting their work done. In fact the quality of the work that they had been producing was pretty poor and their attitude was fairly negative. I setup a meeting with the person and their supervisor.

During the meeting, I pointed out the areas of concern and that I needed them to get "back on track." I also let them know if there needed other staff support, we might be able to shift some things around t make it more doable for them. The literal response from the employee was, "You're an a*@hole!" The supervisor sitting next to them was shocked and apologetic. I told the employee, that they needed to leave the facility and to return the next day at 9:00am.

When the person and their supervisor appeared at my office the next day, promptly at nine, the employee said, "I fired myself yesterday didn't I?" I pushed a piece of paper across the desk, asking them to read it. It was an employee corrective action sheet. It detailed what the overall problems where and a suggested plan of correction. The person signed it.

I looked at the person and informed them that they had not been fired, but given an opportunity. They asked, "Why not, I was really angry and inappropriate?" I replied "three reasons actually. One, they had been a good employee in the past and people stumble, albeit badly sometimes and once instance should not always negate everything that I person has done. Two was that I was aware they had been under some extreme pressure in their life and when people are under tremendous strain, their don't make decisions the same way as when they are not. And three, I recalled your kids at the Christmas party last year. When you where angry and acting out, you forgot about them. Had they been in your mind, you might not have placed yourself and them in this position."

After the meeting the persons supervisor remarked, "Man, I don't think that I could have done that. Not a challenge to my power and authority like that. You are a far better person than I am." I responded, "The point is not to be a better person. The point is to be Mindful and in this case not just to see this moment but the past and consider what the future might be. And as for power, maybe it's not what you currently think it is. I would prefer to think that an element of my role is stewardship."

Reflecting back, my feeling is that it's easy to fall into stereotypical roles, responses and attitudes. That state of being seems very much like an illusion. But Zen is not to be stereotypical and enhance our deluded sense of self and mind. Zen is to be "The True (wo)man without rank." It gives us the ability to be free and clear in our actions, birthed from out Body and Mind. It is to have he capacity to *BE* real.

Namaste'

Jaye Morris, Curator
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