Page 97 of Power Move

I should have called her out, but I decided the best approach was to let Meg vent and redirect.

“You are correct that we are not married, but that makes no difference. Eva will forever be in my life. No one is robbing anyone. We agreed to have children together. That is all. It is also beside the point.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Meg, you prevented Eva from doing her job. She asked me about official business. Claire is sending her to London in her place. She needed to confirm that with me. And now, I need you to confirm that you can get her on the passenger manifest for the jet. Do not do that again. I know your first impulse is to protect me—and the company—but Eva shares in that motivation. We are a team. I need InfoSec to have access to me whileDaphne is out. Claire and Eva get priority in the case of an incident. You need to treat them both with respect. Do you understand?”

She nodded. “I don’t mean to be rude.”

“I know,” I said. “Uh, besides adding Miss Pavlak to the manifest, can you organize a meeting with all my VPs and directors for this afternoon? Clear schedules if you must. Exclude Eva and Claire. Neither of them needs to be there. Claire is swamped and Eva won’t want to attend.”

“Should I include an agenda, sir?”

“Call it contingency planning and leave it broad.”

The afternoon rolled around. I found myself in a conference room with everyone with a rank of director or higher—minus Eva and Claire. Their faces signaled concerns about mass layoffs rather than my poorly-put-together pregnancy announcement. I flew by the seat of my pants as much as ever, trying to channel the What Would Dad Do of it all. I reflected on the number of times people criticized Mum for being “too involved”, but also how her vision made the company a retail powerhouse. In our case, Eva needed levity not only for family sake, but because she was key to modernizing our tech strategy.

“Thank you all for being here,” I said. “I know it is very busy, so I will not keep you long. Look, this isn’t a layoff or anything. We’re thriving and about to close the London deal. There is no reason to worry. However, I called you here to discuss some upcoming changes and planning for the future.”

People relaxed when they realized this wasn’t a layoff.

“So, does anyone want to know what my father said made this company exceptional?”

No one responded.

“Okay… well, maybe you think it’s rhetorical, but… it’s a family-run company. For awhile, I wanted so badly to IPO, but no.I am reminded that our strength has always been in our ability to rally together as a family and a team. Recently, we’ve forgotten this—despite the big flashing signs otherwise.”

I paced. “Daphne being on leave is complicated, yes. I’ve heard some rumblings and complaints. The truth is, we should be happy for Daphne. She’s transformed our retail sector and saved hundreds of jobs in her past year here. It thrills me to see another generation here filling these halls as all of us kids did and as Dad and his siblings did before us.”

Some heads nodded.

“Now, there is an elephant in the room I want to clear up—a lot of talk about whether there has been some sort of foul play or affair involving myself and Ms. Pavlak. Some in this room have felt it acceptable to poke fun at her or act insubordinate or rude. I’d like to remind you that this is unacceptable and will be seen as harassment.”

The most reliable of the rumor mill looked down.

“Yes, Ms. Pavlak and I began seeing one anotherbeforeDaphne hired her. Yes, we are expecting twins in the new year. Yes, we remain professional.”

Audible gasps filled the room, but I continued.

“No policy has been violated. In the spirit of our past, I will take leave, just as Daphne has. She is aware she will be in charge. You might not like that, those areyouropinions. However, my father took time off for the birth of every one of his six children at a time that was uncommon. I won’t hear criticism of either people giving birth or supporting people through bonding time with their children.”

The room fell silent.

“After you leave this meeting, please remind your employees that our family leave policies exist to ensure a balance in their work lives with the thing that matters most—their family. Happy, fulfilled people are the backbone of our company. Let’s not lose sight of that. Furthermore, if I hear any of you being unkind to any person at the company about to give birth orsupport a partner through that process, I will take action with HR. Such behavior is discriminatory. Thank you. That is all.”

The room remained quiet as people filed out. I realized Eva had watched the whole thing from the coffee machine, curious. I met her gaze before filing out.

“I just handled it,” I said. “Can we go to London and put this all behind us?”

She shrugged. “We can try, but shit is still complicated.”

“It always will be,” I agreed. “That’s life.”

27.COMPLICATIONS AND FRUSTRATIONS

Davey

“So, ready to prepare?”