The Foundation

Odell was reviewing his calendar for the upcoming month, when he received an urgent phone call from Mike Boller. “Odell, I just finished visiting with your main man, Jimmie Nelson. He just informed me that he is concerned about your leadership, and he wants to opt out of your operation. He wants to go to work for Brad Henry in Chicago. He cites that your operation is out of control, and he wants to go somewhere where he can make a difference.”

Jimmie had driven some fifty miles in his rental car to San Diego to have a personal conversation with Mike Boller.

Odell was both stunned and embarrassed by the news! He reflected on how he had gone through great lengths to talk Mike into allowing him to hire Jimmie and give him a full relocation package, instead of hiring a local talent. Mike had to get a special exception from headquarters because the Zywork Corporation policy didn’t allow relocation money for any position outside of the general manager’s role. Jimmie had already spent over $30,000 in relocation fees. Now he was deserting the operation and leaving Odell with mud on his face. Odell was flabbergasted! Jimmie Nelson, his friend, whom he had been defending against Francis Ambrosia, the biggest and most influential monster in Los Angeles—had just sold him down the river. There was nothing that Odell could say to Mike Boller. He knew this was another strike against him. This one might be that final blow. Also, it didn’t help that Jimmie was a fellow African-American. At this point, all Odell could do was apologize to Mike for the money spent.

Jimmie never had any intentions of relocating to Los Angeles; it was all a sham: He used Odell to increase his base salary by 15%, which established his new baseline for future pay. Also, he used much of the relocation money to buy personal things for his wife and family back in Chicago.

Being somewhat of a politician, through his connections, Jimmie had discovered some information that Odell didn’t have. There was a rumor going around that something big was going to happen to the ZBS LA operation. Thus, Jimmie had been secretly working with Brad Henry, his former boss who was also black, to get him a job back in Chicago. He convinced Brad that Odell was in over his head, and the ZBS LA operation was falling apart. Brad never bothered to call Odell to validate Jimmie’s story. He readily believed everything that Jimmie said because he had met Odell back in Chicago and frankly, didn’t see him as a good Joe Corporate citizen—politically astute.