In an office with glass walls the quiet can feel really heavy. It is like the silence is weighing you down more than what people are saying. The corporate cabin is a place where you expect to hear a lot of talk. Sometimes the silence, in this kind of room can feel really loud. The glass walls make it feel like everyone is watching you. That makes the quiet feel even heavier.
The office was really quiet. It was not a nice quiet. It was the kind quiet that people in charge like to have. A dim blue light was shining on the floors and it was bouncing off the glass walls. You could see everything. You could not tell what people were thinking. The air conditioner was making a noise like it was used to being on, at night when people are scared. Outside the room people were typing on their computers. Work was still. Life was going on.. Inside this room time was standing still. The office was waiting. Time was waiting. The office and time were just waiting.
The boss stood near the window. His hands were in his pockets. He looked really relaxed. This is something that only the boss can do. The boss did not need to speak. The boss never did this. The boss has a lot of power. This power is not about being loud. The boss has learned how to use his power. The boss has been to meetings and has been promoted many times. The boss has also had to let some people go. All of these things have taught the boss one thing. The boss needs to be in charge of the room. When the boss is in charge of the room the boss is in charge of the people, in the room.
The employee was standing across the desk. They were very straight-backed and still. They did not have their arms crossed. There was no sign of defiance, on the surface. They just looked calm. The employee had a kind of calm that people often do not understand.
For weeks months things had been getting really bad. There were these night emails that were pretty weird. Sometimes people were left out of meetings. It was not very nice. Somebody would do some work and then it would be like they did not do it at all. The person in charge would say things about them in front of everyone but when they were alone they would make them feel bad. It was not against the law or anything. It was a way to make someone feel like they were not important. The tension had been. It was all, about reminding the person of their place at work.
The boss turned around slowly. He was moving the bosss body in a slow circle. The boss was taking his time to turn all the way.
The man looked at me. Said “You know why you are here”. He spoke in a voice that did not shake. It was not something he was asking me it was a fact.
The employee nodded once. He was not being submissive he was just accepting the way things were.
The boss went on to say that there is a feeling that the employee has been doing things that’re not part of the employees job. The boss was being very careful with the words he was using. He thought that the employee had been stepping outside of the employees role, at the company.
A pause. Strategic.
In our company we think it is really important to be clear, about things. Every single person who works here has a job to do. When people forget what their job is things can get very messy. We like things to be simple and easy to understand so everyone knows what they are doing. Our company is a place where everyone has a role and when people remember that things go smoothly.
The employee did not say a word.
There was silence again. This time the silence was not empty. The silence was full. The silence was full of things that people did not say. The silence was full of nights when people stayed up and thought about things. The silence was full of decisions that people had already made about the things that they wanted to do.
The boss thought that the people were quiet because they were scared of him. The boss mistook the silence for fear. He did not understand that the silence was not because of fear it was just that the people had nothing to say to the boss.
He leaned forward a little putting his hand on the desk. “Let me make this really clear ” he said. “You are good at your job.. Being good at your job does not mean you can do whatever you want. Wanting to get does not mean you are in charge of the Music Studio. Talent does not give you permission to do things. Ambition does not give you authority to make decisions. You need to remember that you are a Music Teacher at the Music Studio. Talent and ambition are important, for a Music Teacher. They are not everything.
He said “You are a Music Teacher but you need to follow the rules of the Music Studio. You need to listen to the people in charge of the Music Studio. The Music Studio has rules. You need to respect them.”
Another pause.
“Know your place.”
The words hit home exactly as they were meant to. Sharp and controlled and final. This was the moment when the boss expected people to do what they were told. The boss wanted to see a nod from them. The boss wanted to hear an apology from them. Maybe the boss even wanted them to say thank you for not being let go.
The employee looked up instead.
Not quickly. Not aggressively. Just… deliberately.
That little movement changed the room. The room was different because of that movement.
The employee said “I do know my place”.
The boss did not change his face. You could see something moving behind his eyes. It was curiosity. It was also annoyance.
The employee kept talking their voice was calm. They sounded almost respectful. “My place is where the work actually gets done. This is where the problems are solved before they even get to your desk. The employee said that mistakes get fixed quietly at their place so the leadership team looks flawless, to everyone. The employee thinks that their place is very important because it is where the employee does all the work and solves the problems and fixes the mistakes so the leadership team does not have to deal with them. The employee believes that their place is where everything gets done and that is why the leadership team looks so good. The employee thinks that without their place the leadership team would not look flawless.
The sound of the air conditioner felt really loud now. The air conditioner was making a lot of noise.
The employee said “I have stayed in my place”. The employee added that they have stayed there enough to see how the job works.
The boss stood up straight. “Be careful” he said. He was still really calm and in charge. “This is not the place, for. “
The employee said it is, in a soft voice.
That interruption was really polite and measured. It hurt more than if someone had just yelled at me. The way it was said, calm and quiet cut deeper, than shouting ever could.
The employee went on to say that you think silence means people are agreeing with you.. That is not always the case. Sometimes people are just quiet because they are watching and learning. They want to see who talks a lot and who listens. They want to know who takes credit for things and who tries to avoid getting in trouble for things that go wrong. The employee said that silence is not always agreement silence is people observing the employee and the people around them, like the employee themselves.
The glass walls were reflecting the man and the woman now. The man and the woman were two people standing close to each other just inches apart but they were divided by more, than just the fact that the man and the woman had different jobs.
The employee said “I did not forget where I belong.” The employee outgrew the job the employee said, “You were okay with the version of the employee but the employee changed and you are not comfortable, with the new version of the employee.”
The boss looked really shaken for the time. He was not angry. He was not loud either. The boss just seemed uncertain.
The man said that kind of thinking can really hurt your career. He said it slowly. That kind of thinking he said, can cost you a career.
The employee nodded. “I know.”
Another pause. Longer this time.
“But staying quiet was costing me more.”
Outside the cabin someone laughed loudly. Then a phone rang it was a loud ring. Life just kept going on people were doing their things they had no idea that something bad had just happened to the people, in the cabin.
The boss took a step back. Got himself together. “You are making a mistake ” he said. “This company takes care of people who’re loyal, to the company.”
The employee said no. The system rewards people who’re, in control. Now the employee gets it. The employee understands that the system rewards control.
The boss looked at the employees face trying to find something that was not right. The employees face was fine. The boss was looking for some kind of weakness in the employees face. The employees face did not show anything. The boss did not see any cracks in the employees face. The employees face was like a wall it did not show what the employee was thinking or feeling. The boss kept looking at the employees face searching for cracks, in the employees face.
The man wanted to know what I thought would happen after we finished talking. He asked me what I thought happens after this conversation. I was supposed to tell him what I thought would happen to us after we were done talking about things. The man really wanted to know what I thought about what happens after this conversation.
The employee did not hesitate. “You will decide whether keeping me silent is better for you, than letting me walk away and knowing what is going on with the company ” the employee said, talking about keeping the employee silent. The employee was talking about the benefits of keeping the employee silent.
That was it.
No threats. No drama. The truth is out there for everyone to see. It is what it is. The truth is laid out in the open.
The boss turned back to the window. He stared out at the city lights that were shining through the blue colored glass. The city lights were really pretty. For a moment the boss looked like a man. He looked very tired. It was like the boss was thinking that being in charge only means something if the people around him believe in it. The boss was thinking about power and what it means to have power over the people, around him.
“He said that I was dismissed at last. The man finally told me that I was dismissed.”
The employee nodded again and this time it was not because he was giving up it was because he was finally okay, with what happened. The employee walked out.
The glass door closed softly behind them. It made a sound when the glass door shut. The people who went through the glass door did not hear noise because the glass door closed softly.
No slam. No spectacle.
Just quiet.
The boss was sitting inside the cabin. It was very quiet. The only sound was the air conditioner humming. The boss was alone with his thoughts. He thought about something that surprised him. He realized that people in charge only yell when they are not really in control. When someone is really in charge they do not need to say much. They can just be quiet.. Tonight the quiet was on someone elses side. The boss thought about this. It made him think about authority and silence. Authority is loud when it is weak. True control is quiet. The silence was with someone tonight not, with the boss.
Somewhere between the blue shadows and the glass walls a simple truth, about life lingered, the truth that the blue shadows and the glass walls seemed to be hiding but the simple truth was still there and it was a truth that people often missed when they looked at the blue shadows and the glass walls.
Knowing your place doesn’t mean staying small.
Sometimes, it means knowing when to leave the room.