You wouldn’t have this job…if it wasn’t for me

It’s the time for another one of my readers to shine:

“Max,

I am a [redacted] industry analyst for one of the largest investment firms. Sometime ago while doing a visit at a large company we cover, I was the leading analyst conducting our due diligence visit. As I started peppering a C-suite executive there, I went beyond your typical what’s the outlook for your company, and asked him why was he doing [what he was doing, redacted] to which he replied: 

“Listen, fucker, you wouldn’t have this job if it wasn’t for us.” 

What is it that I should have done ? Also, please write some more maxims, I like them. They reflect my workplace reality.

Thanks,

Alex”

Max: Alex, you are saying this is a client, he’s not your existing boss or supervisor. He is lashing out presumably unhappy with the fact Wall Street firms exist to cover firms like his. So if there were no firms doing [whatever industry] there wouldn’t be the need to cover them. Guy is obviously an assho*e and you irked him.

His complaining is weak. I mean, if there were no WS firms, he’d have no investors and no business to be working at and his lavish lifestyle. I’d like my readers to take a look at the relocation packages below, for illustration purposes only, and to think for a moment, how does that compare with what they make. How close are you…or how remote.

There are two responses to what you were told:

1. Ignore and continue, Take it in, not react, I imagine eventually you’d excuse yourself and leave at some point. If you were alone with him, you’d not share this with someone else. This is the base case of NOT responding to verbal aggression.

2. You can repeat back what he said: “If it wasn’t for you, you say I didn’t have a job ? Is that right ? I would not have a job if you weren’t around.”

Him: Yes, that’s right. You’d be sleeping and eating the sidewalk.

You can try humor him:”That can’t be that bad. Have you tried it ?”

Or you can escalate to where somebody is going to get hurt. But I imagine that’s not what you want. If you said “Douche-bag says what ? he’ll say you called him a douchebag. And that might got you fired.

The bigger question here is how many people have been told they would not have their job…if it wasn’t for this [insert] person’s name, title.   

The response to such a statement needs to be weighted carefully.