Business Doctors - Management Consulting Gone Wild (22 page)

Schneider’s posture hasn’t changed. Angie continued.

“If you are thinking about the legal implications of what you’d be doing, you can continue to manage the show behind the scenes. If someone takes a shot at you, I’ll be your fall guy, er, fall girl…or whatever. Keep the emotions aside and think about it, Michael. Together we can be a formidable team.”

This one hit bulls-eye. For Schneider, the idea of being able to do exciting work, make money and still be shielded from the repercussions seemed like a
n option worth considering.

“What do you do with Phil?” Schneider finally broke his silence. “He too gets thrown under the bus? Just like you did with Woody?”

Angie realized that the ice was thawing, but did not let her expressions reveal her sense of relief. “No. He’s far too important to be disposed off so easily. He’s an asshole, I agree. But he understands the business. You, I and all the interns are still kids in this business, comparatively of course.”

“What about the rest of the people? The interns know me well by now. The others don’t. Phil still has a greater hold on them than anyone else in the organization. Besides, like you said, I wouldn’t want to step out in the open and declare myself as the new king of the jungle.”

“They all know me, right? Also, legally speaking, I’m still the successor to the Woody legacy. If you are uncomfortable stepping into his shoes, I’ll be your proxy. I’ll take the heat. The shroud of mystery that surrounds you can continue for as long as you like. Till yesterday, it was Woody at the top and Phil was his right hand man. Let’s change the equation a little. I’ll stand in for Woody and you’ll be my right hand man. Think of it as becoming my permanent full-time business consultant. You don’t need to worry about managing the day-to-day stuff. You can leave that to Phil and the team”

“I don’t know, Angie. This is all so…so, not correct.” The ferocity of Schneider’s resistance had reduced significantly. More than being unsure, it was almost as if he was waiting for the cherry on the icing to nail the deal.

Drawing out her emotional daggers, she now went for the last jab. “Don’t leave me now, Schneider, when I need you the most.” Angie’s face had the most vulnerable expression Schneider had ever seen since he first met her. As her eyes welled up with tears, he melted. Walking towards her, he gave her a hug.

Chapter 20

Angie had called for a morning meeting in the Dungeon, her first one. Woody’s lieutenants were all there, including Phil. They were all curious to know which way the power would shift after Woody had left. Most of them already seemed to know it would be Phil and came with the assumption that the meeting was more of a formality to make it official. Schneider was present in the meeting too. He felt odd being part of the first
non-project
related meeting of WFB.

Angie hadn’t arrived yet. Was being fashionably late, or in this case, tensely late, her way of emphasizing her importance? Schneider glanced across to Phil. He seemed calm and composed.
The poor guy had no idea what’s going to hit him in the next few minutes
, thought Schneider.
The over-confident prick was looking cocky as always. Then there were the other possibilities too. When Phil does find out that he’s been sidelined, he’s going to throw a fit. He’ll challenge Angie’s decision in front of all the other guys. Undermine her authority or walk out of the meeting. Worse still, he could take with him several other key people from the room and from the other businesses. Or what if he goes for a coup and tries to forcefully seize power and control of the organization. What if he pulls out a gun and shoots everyone in the room?

Schneider realized he was stressing himself out and tried to divert his attention to other pleasant thoughts, from the previous night with Angie. But his thoughts kept returning back to the Dungeon. He could hear his heart pumping hard. He scribbled Hollywood on his pad, squinted his eyes and tried to see if he could read ‘Hell good’ as Martin had recommended. But the best he could manage with all the squinting was ‘Horny wood’.

Just then Angie walked into the Dungeon. She looked different. More formal. She was wearing a black business suit. Her hair had been pulled back, to reveal more of her chiseled face. Schneider had always seen her in casuals, nighties and on several occasions, mostly during chandelier-watching sessions, wearing nothing at all. The Angie that had just walked in seemed as if she had spent her entire adult life in corporate boardrooms, scheming takeovers and gobbling companies. Schneider felt that the poise and the confidence with which she swaggered in belied any nervous tension that was bubbling inside. He was trying to do the same, but was having a tough time controlling his anxiety. Maybe it was good for him to have Angie act as the front and shield him from all the unpleasantness that was imminent.

“Gentlemen,” she started. Her voice was firm, not too loud and definitely not the soothing soft one that Schneider was used to. How the hell had she managed this transformation? Had she been practicing for this day?

“Thank you all for coming at such a short notice. As you are all aware, there have been several developments in the last few months, and specifically in the last few days, that have raised a lot of questions within WFB and outside as well.”

From the wide-eyed expressions in the room, Schneider guessed the attendees around him were not used to such politeness. Woody freely used abusive language to tame the wild group he led. This was his way of keeping them under control. Showing them he was in charge. Angie in comparison was too mild. She seemed to be wearing an expensive custom-tailored designer suit, like her hubby, but this was where the similarity ended. Would this work? Or will she get eaten up for breakfast by the barbaric clan she was thinking of leading. Schneider had many questions but no answer yet.

“I felt it was time to get together and set a clear direction on where we are going. Woody was a good leader and we will feel his absence in all that we do around here. But as they say, the show must go on.”

There were a few nods.

“WFB as a business has been in existence for three generations now and it is our responsibility to ensure that the legacy continues. Through these years you have been the pillars on which WFB gained power, credibility and respect. We’ve grown from strength to strength. With your support, we’ll get through this difficult phase as well.”

Schneider quickly took another peek in Phil’s direction. Angie’s right upper hook was gonna knock him out anytime now. Angie was going to announce the new leader. Phil continued to look calmly at Angie as she spoke. Apart from the slight frown on his face, which
gave the impression that he was perennially pissed off with the world, there was no change in his expression. Schneider waited patiently and entertained himself by visualizing Phil’s falling in slow-motion as Angie pulled the chair from under him.

“There’s a leadership gap that must be filled immediately,” Angie went on. “So I’ve decided to step up and take on that responsibility.”

It was time for the big ugly fight to begin.

But Phil’s expression and posture did not change. It was almost as if the shock to his brain caused by the unexpected turn of events was so tremendous that he had gone into coma. Schneider looked at Phil’s fingers. They were still moving.

“But I cannot do this on my own. I’d need someone who can provide that support.” Schneider braced himself for his name to be announced.

“Phil has been playing that role for several years...and he’s been doing a fantastic job. I’d request him to continue playing that role.”

“What?!” Schneider thought to himself. This was a major deviation from the script of the story they had planned last evening. Wasn’t this where she was supposed to announce his name? Why was Phil still her right hand man?

Phil stood up and took a slight bow. “I’d be glad to, Ms Woody.” He took his seat again.

Now the uncivilized asshole was behaving all prim and proper. What finishing school has he been attending? Schneider was still confused. What was going on here?

Phil’s brown-nosing clique clapped and cheered.

“Thanks, Phil,” Angie said and turned to the rest of the group. “All of you have already met Schneider. He’s been running Project Lean and Mean for us. He’ll continue working with me on this. You’d recall that his team had made a presentation to us a few months back. Many of you were in the room.  Schneider had highlighted several problems that we are facing. One of them was about getting the right people into our organization. He has identified and worked with some really good guys that we could use within WFB. Each person that Schneider has selected has certain qualities and skills that will be valuable to our business. As part of the next phase of the project, we’ll place one or more of them into your teams. This will happen over the next few days. I would expect you to take them under your fold and mould them well.”

This time there was no cheering, but a few nodded to acknowledge their support.

“We have spent a lot of money on these new recruits. A lot. So treat them well. They will need to be hand-held, nurtured, guided, and in some instances, nudged and pushed. I’ll hold you personally responsible if anything were to go wrong with their induction into your team.” Angie glowered at the group and went on.

“You know one of the main reasons for launching Project Lean and Mean... cash crunch! We had no idea how much we owed other parties. And when we did find out, we realized we did not have enough cash to run our business. We were choking. Well, there’s some good news on that front. Schneider and his team have raised four and a half million dollars. We’ll ensure that each one of you gets a proportionate share to ease off some of the strain that you have been facing in your businesses. I’ll work with Schneider to evaluate each business in further detail and decide who gets what.”

Schneider hadn’t expected this second knock-out punch coming his way either.

Four and a half million? What about…
Schneider’s train of thought was broken by the thunderous applause and the loud thumping on the table.

“Way to go, Schneider!” said his neighbor. “If you continue bringing in money this way, you’ll put us all out of business,” he guffawed before adding, “Just kidding.”

Phil got up, reached his hand across the table and said, “Welcome to the family, Schneider.” Schneider shook his hand and smiled.

“Ok, guys, that’s all I had to say from my side. Any questions?” Angie got up to leave.

“Yeah,” it was the bearded goon sitting next to Phil. “When do we get the money?”

“Soon. I’ll need each of you to tell me how you plan to use it. You commit. You deliver.” Angie said and walked out of the room. Her serious tone made it clear that she wasn’t giving out freebies.

Schneider felt it was inappropriate to approach Angie immediately after the meeting. She did deliver the knock-out punch, but on the wrong cheek. He went back to his office and called her up.

“Hey! Good work there in the Dungeon.”

“I know you have questions, Michael. I was expecting you to call.”

“Seems like you had worked out all the details before walking in there. Impressive…for a debut performance.”

“I had to do my ground work. It was my first meeting. Why don’t you come over in the evening? Who knows if this line is being tapped.”

A few hours later, Schneider was at Woodyvilla.

“So you had a deal with Phil before the meeting? You conveniently cut me out of the frame…after all that convincing yesterday. Is this another one of your games?”

“No, it isn’t. And nobody’s cut you out of the frame. You are very much part of the picture, Michael. Phil isn’t a fly in my soup that I can just pick up and throw out of the window. We both know how important he is to the business. With him gone, WFB will fall like a pack of cards. I had to think of a way to hold him back. I don’t want to rock the boat too much at this stage. There’s been enough damage already. I don’t
want your entry to cause too many ripples around here. Right now, it’s important for the rest of the guys and Phil to accept me as the boss first. We’ll work you in slowly. This is a pact between you and me. You gotta trust me on this one, Michael.”

Schneider paused for a few seconds and then asked, “Four and a half million raised in a week?”

“You are thinking - what happened to the remaining three million? Well, that’s the price we have to pay to retain Phil within the team. I had a hunch he’d choose money over delayed power. And it worked.”

“Delayed power?”

“Phil knows he isn’t the only boss-in-waiting. There are other old-timers as well. It’s a different story that they don’t have the support that he does. But the fact remains. He still has enemies within WFB. A power struggle could’ve easily turned brutal and bloody. And if that happened, everyone would lose. I’ve told him I’d be a stand-by leader and would hand over the reins to him once the business stabilizes and hopefully starts growing.”

“I’m guessing involving me in distributing the business stimulus package was part of your well-thought out plan. You want to ensure I continue to get smiles from the guys and don’t get my head rolling down Woody’s personal bowling alley in the first few days of joining.”

Angie smiled.

* * *

In the WFB guesthouse, Gabriel paced up and down the hall. Kenny sat in the couch with one foot thrown awkwardly on the seat and the other one on the floor. He was holding another magazine and tilting his head sideways. He pushed the magazine towards Ryan who was sitting on the other
end of the couch. “Hey Logan, look at this one, do you think…?”

“Shut up, Kenny,” Ryan shot down his query.

The team was waiting for Schneider to arrive, so that they could find out more.

“Mr. Schneider,” Kruger announced. The announcement seemed more for his buddies than for Schneider. “Welcome to our humble abode.”

Schneider beamed and walked towards Kenny. He snatched the magazine from his hands, looked intently for a couple of seconds and gave his verdict, “Fake!”

He gave the magazine back to Kenny, who seemed unconvinced and continued staring intently to verify.

Schneider addressed the whole group. “Okay folks, we got some business to take care of.”

“Do we?” asked Bullet. “I thought you’ve come in to announce the death of this project.”

“Yeah, dude,” Alex came forward. “At this stage, we felt it was best to split the money and say goodbye.”

“So you wanna kill the hen that lays a golden egg a day? You happy with a one time payoff?” Schneider asked.

“Yeah...why not? If the hen is going to get its throat slit tomorrow anyway…sure,” Jamal joined in.

“Stop talking in stupid metaphors, guys,” Ryan was still on the couch. “Let’s get a few things straight in words that we all understand. Do we have a future here or are they gonna throw us back on the street, or into prison…now that they got their money?”

“Let me answer the first question,” said Schneider. “No, you can’t get a share of the money. That was never ours to begin with. If you want to leave, the doors are wide open. Feel free to pick up your bags and catch the next bus out of town.”

Schneider looked around for reactions and saw Alex was about to speak. Schneider raised his hand in an
I’ve-not-finished-yet
kind of manner and went on. “But I’m hoping most of you will not choose that option when you realize that there is a future for each one of you in WFB.”

Schneider looked at Alex and said, “I don’t see any packed bags yet. So I’m assuming you want to hear what I have to offer. Do you?”