I grit my teeth to suppress the nasty thoughts swirling in my head, like how I want to shave Murphy’s goldilocks. I cross my arms in front of my chest. My safest option is to listen to what Murphy has come up with and hope it won’t be too painful or time-consuming. Perhaps I can even find a way to steer his plan in a direction that suits me best.
“Okay, brother,” I murmur. “I’m ready. Please enlighten me. What should I do better to convince you that I’m the man for the job? Are you going to set a new benchmark I need to reach? An impossible client I need to acquire? Say it, and it’s done.”
Murphy sighs. “Nate, that’s not at all what I have in mind. I know you’re good at bringing in business. The best, maybe.”
Now, we’re talking. My lips curl up at his praise. “Finally, something we agree on.”
“Yes. But numbers are only one half of being a leader. The other half is people. Your employees. And quite frankly, you’re terrible with them. You don’t care about them. You don’t empathize with them. You just manipulate them like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle you’re eager to complete…just like you do with us, your family.”
I stare at my brother in disbelief.
What’s he saying?
None of my employees has ever complained about me not caring enough. True, I don’t spend time chatting with my secretary about her love life, and I don’t ask the sales crew about their children, nor do I invite the accounting guys for a coffee or lunch.
But this doesn’t make me a bad leader. Only one with a clear vision about what’s important and what’s not.
I adjust the pencil holder back in its rightful place. I blink at Murphy.
He’s squinting at me like I’m one of his patients.
I hate when he does this, but I can’t snap at him now. I need to convince him he’s focusing on a senseless argument. If I call it that, however, I’ll confirm the prejudice he just shoved into my face. So I sigh and open my arms. “Okay, I don’t oppose your reasoning entirely. Tactical thinking, sales, and sealing deals are my thing. People? Not so much. But you can’t seriously doubt that I’d be a good CEO, just because I’m not empathic enough, right? I mean AMEA’s business isn’t the same as your daily bread and butter. We are a strategic consulting firm, not the Red Cross. Here, Murph, you don’t need to love your employees to get them to do—no, wait, even better—to make them want to do the things you need. I’d say that caring for them too much would even be counterproductive.”
Murphy’s brows shift upward. “Oh, really? So you’re telling me you can make people want what you want because you don’t love them?
“In a way, yes.” I shrug. “It’s easier to manipulate people if you don’t mix your own feelings into the equation.”
“So you prefer ignoring them?”
“It’s called maneuvering toward success without getting yourself weighed down by pointless fuzzy feelings,” I retort.
Murphy pinches the bridge of his nose. “And you think this always works? Would you bet on this?”
“Why would I need to bet on this? It’s a fact.”
“A fact to you, but not to me. But if you’re so sure of yourself, I can offer you an interesting bet…”
Something in his voice makes me pause. There’s a secretive undertone to it, the same one he had when we were younger and he had some mischief in mind.
“What bet?” I ask when my curiosity outweighs my caution.
“If you can prove to me in a reasonably short amount of time…let’s say, by Mother’s annual charity ball in seven days…that you can truly motivate someone to want what you want, then I’ll tell Mother she should give your promotion the green light.”
I straighten my back and bend forward. “Get someone to want what I want? That’s pretty vague. Can you tell me in more concrete terms what you have in mind?”
Murphy rubs his hands. “Indeed, I can. I’ve been pondering this ever since I spoke to Mother about your problem.”
“I don’t have a problem.” I can’t stop the indignant words from bubbling up.
Murphy rolls his eyes. “Whatever. Then it should be fairly simple for you to prove that you don’t, right? I think the perfect opportunity for you to show your charisma is to make a woman fall in love with you.”
“Huh?”
My brows arch so high, I almost feel them touching my hairline.
Has my brother gone mental?
“Why are you so surprised?” Murphy shakes his head, grinning. “Women are the best detectors for scams. If you demonstrate your ability to maneuver a woman into falling for you, then I’ll have no choice but to admit that your people skills are superior to what I think they were. So what do you say, Nate?”
This conversation has drifted into terrain I’m not comfortable with. It’s not like I’m unsure about my manly appeal. But it doesn’t have anything to do with the issue at hand. “You want to base my promotion on my ability to seduce a woman?”
“I’m not talking about seducing.” Murphy smacks his lips. “Nor about getting into someone’s pants. I want you to make a woman fall in love with you. Can you do that?”
My phone beeps.
I put up my finger to indicate that Murphy should hold for a second, then I press answer. My secretary Rachel’s voice echoes in the room. “Excuse the interruption, sir. Mr. Zach called to say he’ll send over the draft contract of the Richmond and Green case shortly.”
Ah, at least one piece of good news.
Zach is my lawyer and best friend. He must’ve finally come up with a smart way to overcome Mr. Richmond’s hesitance about our analysts accessing their internal files. If only all my problems were as easy to solve…
“Great. Anything else?”
“I’d like to know whether I can confirm your next meeting, given
