Many years ago in a job interview I was asked a question that pops up into my mind time to time. It demands I reexamine it.
It was a silly, but very dark question.
What makes this question very interesting is that this was for a job as church secretary.
“If the bathroom is consistently without paper towels, how would you reprimand the janitor?”
I was struck by the word reprimand. Coming from senior members of a church, concerning a fellow employee, it seemed, to put it mildly, quite harsh. Especially about paper towels.
At the time I remember saying that it was not my responsibility to reprimand another employee. In my eyes, I was not superior to the Janitor. I distinctly remember looking right at the Pastor when I said it. His mouth dropped open. The two others put their noses to their notes.
I said I would try to find other solutions to the problem, but they did not want to know what. They wanted me to slap this guy!
I would try to find out why the bathroom is without paper towels and not automatically assume it was the janitors fault. Then I would work out a solution with him, not berate the poor soul. Nor would I automatically go to his superiors. I mean really, paper towels?
In hindsight, it was not in my best interest to challenge a potential employer.
Over the years this same question keeps haunting me. I think because they did not want solutions, and that kind of irritates me.
They wanted a bad ass authoritarian who could absolve them of their responsibilities.
That whole interview was fraught with questions, probing for answers to current problems they were struggling with and weren’t solving because they lacked leadership. The place was rife with gossip and backstabbing. They interviewed me several times, they couldn’t make up their minds. In the end they said they wanted someone younger but with my experience.