Am I unemployable?

Sounds strange but I realised that yesterday was one of those days where someone who had a title and ran a business (good for him) did not match up to the respect that I gave them on first meeting them.  By that I mean that I have a healthy respect for authority and I always start by demonstrating that.  Some people mistake that side of me as weakness and yesterday, listening to this chap rattling on I realised that this wasn't the meeting of two like minded individuals.  In fact this was that typical "British" and sometimes "French" 1970s industrial revolution type Us and Them attitude.

I find that way of dealing with people totally out of my orbit.  I do find myself doing it but only after I've got to the end of my patience with someone.  You have to go out of your way to do that.

So this guy was never wrong and had no problems and the issues we talked about weren't happening.  Which is a bit strange as I know they are and that was why I was there so once I started to stretch my legs a bit and demonstrate my bona fides it was quite amusing.  All that happened was it became an entrenched discussion, no matter what I tried to do, there was no space to do anything so I just went on the attack and replayed the issues that had got the company into trouble in the first place (the growth issues that they are having now) and of course I also reversed out as who would want to work with people who don't understand the value you bring to the table.

This threw up a worrying trend in the way that I deal with this sort of stuff.  I don't actually care.  I didn't care whether I got this gig or not.  If I had, I would have done well for them, as it is, they don't feel they need to do anything and that's OK too.  In fact I left them saying it was nice to meet them and that I was glad that they were able to manage on their own (not exactly those words).  Whilst I might get upset at the way people deal with me, it underlines a bigger problem - one that I've always had - and that is people need someone like me to get things done but they really don't like the way I get things done.  Not that I'm difficult to work with but I do get my own way and I do get jobs done and obstacles are removed and if that's people, well so be it.   Everyone wants a "Strong" manager until that is they actually get one - suddenly they find that the medicine is too bitter.  I am almost sure that I'm "unemployable" these days mainly because the interviewer soon finds themselves out of their depth or digging themselves into a hole.  If they did 5 minutes preparation it would help.  I suppose though no one likes to meet someone (like me) who is brandishing a copy of their latest accounts and share holder details and starts to ask difficult questions.

Oh well, back to the drawing board (do they still use them?) and onwards and upwards.