Today I met a young guy who told me that he luckily found another job. He was working in a hotel in the centre of Bucharest and he started now in another hotel. He was not leaving for a higher salary or better other money conditions. No he left his old job because he didn't had satisfaction in what he was doing and could do. He didn'tr feel any freedom to act client oriented. The management learned him that he had to follow the rules and only the rules and procedures. When a customer has a request that was not 'described' in the procedures he had to refuse the request. Even it was a simple request. But with a sad smile he said: 'I can't do this. I want to help people, i want to serve them, that is in my blood and that is what i want. So when a customer has a request that i can fulfill, without making a lot of extra effort, time or costs i will do that.' And it was clear for me that he ddn't allways followed the rules and procedures. He told me that when he finished his night shift he regurarly got a phone call just when he arrived home. Most of the time the manager started to tell him that he again was 'breaking the rules' and he had to change his behavior. And this again and again till this guy found another employer who appreciated his behavior.
 

This is, even nowadays, not an extreme example. There is a type of managers who like to control everything. They think that by a total control everything will go smoothly. And that isn't the case. And in the beginning they will deny that things are not going well. And when they finally open their eyes, or their eyes are opened by their manager, they will blame their employees. Because they didn't do what he was them saying to do. I feel pitty for these managers. They still live in the past, in a period that more or less you could control everything. And life was less complex, and customers weren't demanding that much. But to all those control freaks: That was around thirty years ago, is it not time for a change? Or is your life standing still??  ​