Run & Grind

The Real Reasons a Team Leader Tries to Stop You from Quitting When an employee says they want to resign, most team leaders follow a very predictable sequence of steps. Step 1: Gentle Persuasion The team leader asks why you want to leave. They promise to improve whatever you’re unhappy about and ask you to think it over one more time. “Let’s take this week to think about it and talk again next Wednesday.” Step 2: Delaying the Resignation Date If your intention to leave is still firm at the next meeting, they ask you to push back your resignation date as much as possible. At this stage, they still don’t request a replacement from HR. They’re hoping you might change your mind—or that they can try one last time to stop you. Step 3: The Drinking Session “Why are you really trying to quit? What do you think is waiting for you out there?” The tone may turn aggressive. Or suddenly, they appeal to emotions: “I’ve never asked you like this before… Just help me out this once, li...

I. A Client’s Request 1) Training a Client’s Employee It was about five years after I started working at a tax accounting firm. One day, the owner of one of our client companies asked me to train a newly hired accounting clerk. At the time, I was full of confidence in my work, and looking back now, my passion may have gone a little too far. As I began the training, one thought kept circling in my head. “Something feels very wrong here.” No matter how much I explained, she didn’t seem to understand at all. She never asked questions when she didn’t know something, and there was no sign that she actually wanted to learn. The client’s owner was a decent person—polite and reasonable in everyday dealings. So I spoke carefully. “Sir, do you have a moment?” “Yes.” “I usually avoid commenting on a client’s employees, but I don’t think I can let ...

I Spoke Up — And Lost My Place A story about someone I once worked with. Suddenly Removed from the Team A was a Product Manager. He was deeply passionate about his work, often coming into the office alone on weekends, thinking through problems by himself. After returning from a one-week business trip overseas, he came into the office and was informed immediately. He was removed from the team. And then came another instruction. He was assigned to a newly created unit that handled only miscellaneous paperwork. There had been no prior notice. No explanation. A was simply stunned. Why Did A Start Speaking Up? A was a PM in the development team, effectively the team’s second-in-command. He constantly worried that the team wasn’t functioning properly. The problems were clear. Projects were started randomly, but almost none were properly completed. Headcount had increased, but task allocation was a mess— some people studied on their own, some nodde...

A 20-year insider’s story about titles, reality, and the kind of disappointment you can’t explain until everyone experiences it. I’ve been with this company for nearly twenty years. There were times when, every time the payment due date arrived, I had to endure collection calls just to keep things moving. We survived that period. The business stabilized. We even started talking about new projects again. That’s when something changed. A “former big-corp executive” joined our small company as an executive. Everyone expected something different. Something to learn. Something “bigger.” That expectation didn’t last long. I. The High-Salary “New Executive” More people with impressive titles from large companies began to arrive as executives. Formats changed. Work that never existed suddenly became “mandatory.” Meetings multiplied. ...

A story about exclusion, confidence, and why work relationships shouldn’t own your life. This is a story about a woman who worked at a tax accounting firm. The office was divided into two teams—Team 1 and Team 2. She was the team leader of Team 1. I’ll tell the story from her perspective. I. The Group Chat I Wasn’t In Not long after returning to work from a three-month maternity leave, she was having lunch with her team members when someone suddenly said: “Team leader, you’re really bad at reading the room.” “Huh?” “There was a group chat. The Team 2 leader made it. Everyone was in it—except you.” “So… why are you telling me this now?” “While you were on leave, we worked with the Team 2 leader. She kept saying the workload was too much and cried a lot. In the end, we had to split her work among ourselves.” T...

I. Am I Falling Behind Like This? After giving up on preparing for the civil service exam and trying to get a job, I didn’t even know how to write a resume or a cover letter. I had no TOEIC score worth putting down either. I couldn’t stay at my parents’ house in the countryside as an unemployed graduate, so I swallowed my embarrassment and settled back at the university I had already graduated from. Juniors I knew would ask, “Oh? Didn’t you already graduate?” At dawn, I delivered newspapers. During the day, I worked part-time at the student union building. At night, I attended English classes. My family wasn’t well-off. I was desperate to get a job as soon as possible, to return to a “normal” life and live up to my parents’ expectations. Six months was the absolute maximum time I allowed myself for job preparation. During those six months, I studied only English. But my ski...

In your 20s, getting a job feels like success. A clean office, your own desk, and a paycheck that arrives every month without fail. But something is strange. Once people pass 50, very few are still at that same company. Meanwhile, some people start learning a skill in their 30s and maintain the same level of income well into their 50s and 60s. This article is not a simple comparison between a wallpaper installer and a small-company office worker . It is about how long a salary really lasts, and why we tend to think about that choice far too late. I will show that reality with numbers. I. A Former Executive Who Started Wallpapering After Retirement When he worked at a company, after-work drinks and occasional weekend hikes were almost always with colleagues. Aside from work and family, there were very few people he met regularly. Everything changed on...

The Youngest Employee My Wife Encountered Even the youngest employee eventually reaches a point where you can finally start assigning real work. Still inexperienced, of course, but no longer someone who can just watch and learn. When a fast and capable assistant manager went on maternity leave, we had a meeting to redistribute her workload. “Since Assistant Manager ___ is on maternity leave, let’s divide up the clients she was handling.” “If I do more work… do I get paid more?” My mind went completely blank. There’s no need to bring up generational labels. This happened more than fifteen years ago. Before I Became a Team Leader As a junior employee, my biggest struggle was my relationship with my superiors. By the time you become an assistant manager or a manager, you’ve accumulated enough emotional armor to let most things slide. Relationships wit...

“If you work hard, that’s enough.” I believed that for far too long. It wasn’t until I passed forty that I realized work is not everything. The Second Restructuring This time, those who were laid off were offered three months of additional salary. Some chose to leave on their own. Others had no choice—their names were called from the list. When I confirmed that the names of my teammates were not there, I felt relieved. I wanted to believe that as long as our team wasn’t on the list, this had nothing to do with me. A New Organization, a Different Position A few weeks later, as the chaos settled, the new organizational structure was announced. Two divisions were merged, and the manager of my team—recognized for past performance—became the head of a division with more than 200 people under him, despite holding only a director-level title. ...

The Late-Morning Rush, and the Relationship I Eventually Ended A small story from work life—about time, attitude, and the moment I realized some relationships don’t move forward. I. Back Then I’d take the bus from home to the subway station, then sprint the moment I got off. The second I stepped onto the platform, I’d hear the warning chime— beep-beep-beep —and even if I ran down the stairs two steps at a time, the screen doors would close right in front of me. “Today is one of those days… great. Eight minutes until the next train.” At every stop, my heart would race whenever the doors didn’t close quickly enough. And the moment I arrived at the station near the office, I’d run again—like my life depended on it. I would finally arrive at 9:00 a.m., drenched in sweat. “Can’t you walk faster?” Another scolding from someone above me. “If I’m going to start the ...