The manager of one of our stores slacked off this summer. We’re not sure why. It could have been personal issues, disinterest in the job, dislike of the people who work for him, or their dislike of him.

Who knows?

Whatever, he lost focus. Schedules and time sheets went unfinished and merchandise never got unpacked.

Then he interviewed a sales person over the phone and, in a rush, offered her a job on the spot.

When the person showed up, she was big as a house and missing several teeth.

Before you jump to conclusions, our store has one of the most diverse teams you could find outside Warhol’s Factory: tattoos, every sexual preference, cross dressers, tall, short, all nationalities, and even a bearded woman (it’s called hypertrichosis, by the way).

But this specific job is a salesperson for health and wellness products. On first viewing, she didn’t seem like the hire-on-the-spot person for the job.

Of course, we embraced her, and she’s doing great. Her customers love her and so does the staff. She’s funny, knows our point-of-sale system better than anybody on the show floor, and sells more than anyone at any of our stores. Period.

The manager who hired her, on the other hand, quit before he could see his new hire’s success.

He said he didn’t feel respected for his choices.

I suspect there is more to his story. There is almost always more to the story when someone quits. On both sides.

Maybe we didn’t provide the leadership and clarity we needed to get him out of his funk. Maybe he had a personal issue. Maybe he was embarrassed he’d made a mistake. Maybe I looked more stunned than I should have when our new hire walked in that first day.

Dunno.

Regardless, his leaving has been a good impetus for us to reassess our focus, processes, commitment to inclusion, and patience.

We all try really hard to be professional, smart, and caring at our jobs, but sometimes you just have to say “Who knows?” when things go south and move on.