The Ascendant

Chapter Twenty-Five

Hobbs summonsed me into his office first thing on Monday morning. We exchanged pleasantries and then he got right down to business.

‘I checked through the report you did for me on Friday, Ben,’ he said, still thumbing through it with one eyebrow raised. ‘Not bad, I have to say. You’ve shown some good insight and your presentation is very colourful.’

‘Thank you.’ I felt nervous as hell. There was something about Hobbs’ manner which I thought exuded suspicion last week, but seemed to have manifested itself over the weekend into something quite menacing.

‘Did Angela help you at all with this?’

‘A little. To be honest she did give me a few pointers but I soon got a feel for the information which appeared the most relevant and was hopefully able to spot a few trends concerning costs service standards.’ I thought back to my self-help book: The Crazy-Making Workplacein the hope of steering clear of madness myself.

‘Yes, I thought she may have given you some guidance, but then that’s what we are here for. After all, if we can’t help a member of our own team out, who will he help? No, on the whole you’ve shown as good an understanding as I could have expected of you after just one week, but then you do have similar experience in your previous job' he paused, 'that is right isn’t it Ben?’

Hobbs studied me over his small, light rimmed spectacles while I drew away his scrutiny with a ready reply. ‘Fairly similar yes,’ I said, almost sure he was setting a trap: has he looked into my past, has he found out what my real skills and capabilities are? ‘I’ve got experience of the software but our reporting techniques at Principle Holdings were a little different.’

‘Oh, in what way?’ asked Hobbs, removing his spectacles to give me a steady stare.

‘Well the mode of information was different for a start,’ I said, trying not to seem ruffled under what was developing into some pointed questioning from Hobbs. 'Leaders don't inflict pain – they bear pain' ‘For instance, in our property management department we had monthly incomes and maintenance costs to evaluate in comparison to the sales side of the market. We would make recommendations to our customers based on entirely separate criterion, but the trend spotting and research is equally relevant.’

My brow and palms were becoming sweaty. I wasn’t in danger of Hobbs making any investigative handshakes but the lights in the office were bright and the temperature was controlled at a cool setting. I hoped my face wasn’t glimmering but couldn’t risk wiping myself dry.

‘Well, it’s a different business, isn’t it? Different market, different customers, different scale of operation entirely. But a promising start, Ben. Well done.’

Hobbs reached across his desk to hand the document to me.

‘I’ve scribbled some notes on there in the left hand column which you should find useful,’ said Hobbs.

‘Thank you Paul. I’ll read them very carefully.’

Hobbs hesitated for a moment. ‘So how have you found it so far, Ben?’

‘I have enjoyed it. To start with there were so many faces and names to remember but after I got that out of the way, I’ve felt like I’m really making progress. Hopefully I’ll be able to get out there and make an impact of my own before too long.’

‘Well I sincerely hope so Ben, and it’s good to hear that you’re enjoying it. Now, I actually have something else which I would like you to take a look at for me. It’s more of a batch of raw data really, but I want you to use it to compile a report of your own. I don’t think you will find it quite as straightforward as the last one, but it will give me a good indication of how your mind works.’

Hobbs meticulously annotated the information he required me to extract from the data, the type of report I was expected to present him with, and the manner in which he wanted the report to be presented.

‘A good, professional report, is that understood Ben? No pastel colours, preferably no colours at all. Just the facts, and your interpretation of those facts.’

‘Of course, I understand,’ I said, bundling the paperwork together, as I made my way out of Hobbs’ office.

‘Can I expect your report back by lunch time Ben?’

‘Yes I think so,’ I spluttered.

‘There’s no “think so” about it Ben. I need it by lunch time.’

‘Sure, no problem,’ I winked, with that plunging elevator sensation only my great weekend was able to prevent from feeling fatal.