A Second Chance

Chapter 19

Evan was encouraged by his meeting with Ally. She had many positive things to say about his team and the ideas they had for their new project.

He wasn’t sure what was the exact point he lost his focus. In his mind, he was doing it all. In reality, he was stretched too thin. There were people constantly offering to help, and he turned them down or ignored their offers. While he focused on his grief, his daughter’s recovery, the media and the custody proceedings, everything else in his life suffered. He ignored those from his team who tried to step up didn’t have his support, nor did he give them much direction. Deadlines were pushed back and even missed completely. The projects that they did churn out were subpar. The pandemic didn’t do them any favors, but the root of their issues was heavily influenced by issues in set into motion before anyone had heard of COVID. At a time when they should have been innovating and expanding their networking tools, they were dead in the water.

While his team floundered, their competitors flourished as they adapted to support the world’s sudden influx of work from home employees, his team fell apart. Evan was so entrenched with his personal problems, he didn't see the c*****e. By the time he noticed there was a problem, it was too late to fix it.

Honestly, had it just been his job on the line, he would have stepped down. However, the board was merciless and was going after the rest of his team. Evan knew those men and women did not deserve to be punished for his failure to communicate, plan and lead. He couldn’t just give up. Miranda always reminded him he always had a spot at her company, but he wanted to keep work and his personal life at a good distance. He appreciated the offer, but working for her Dad sounded like a nightmare.

Ally had Evan call a meeting for the whole team that afternoon. The conference room is spacious enough that everyone had their own space for social distancing. Ally captivated her audience as she spoke about all the innovation she saw in their proposals. She talked about setting goals and milestones. Ally then ran an analysis to determine their strengths, opportunities, threats and weaknesses. She was honest with them about the challenges that laid ahead and the amount of work that would need to be done. Evan could almost see a world where this plan worked.

After the meeting, he returned to his office. He watched as each member of his team packed up for the evening. A text from Kiana came across his phone reminding him that he promised they could go see Benny that evening. He had hoped she had forgotten, but she was tenacious. Miranda had startled Benny on Monday, dashing Kiana’s plans to hold the bird. Now it was all that was on her mind. Even Kyle had asked about the parrot that was staying in the guest house when he texted to confirm Evan remembered about the plans he had with Kiana for the weekend.

Despite his current situation being unorthodox, for the first time in at least two years, Evan was looking forward to what the future brought.