The work that nobody wanted to do was now my job. Subordination was the name of the game, and enduring the “cream station” with Claudia on Saturdays was my end game.
Right after my graduation from high school, young and naive, I started working in a pastry factory as an apprentice. Work started at 7AM every morning - excluding Saturdays, when it begrudgingly started at the sleep-drunk hour of 6AM.
As a young working adult, I was given the evil tidings to work all day with an ever-present concentration-camp-guard-like supervisor - scratch that - to work FOR her, just as a personal slave. It was always the same: you came into her separate room, which was heavily cooled in the summer, because of working with cream. Sometimes, however, it seemed to me that the cold came more from my supervisor's soul than the vents.
In her defense, I must say she had already worked for three hours when I arrived. Every time I tried to warm her heart with a warm and motivated Guten Morgen ("good morning"in German,) she instead stacked her already-used work materials in my arms. The rest of the day I was allowed to do, under the strictest supervision, exactly what she has been doing every Saturday for 20 years.
Claudia had a big problem with change. I noticed it very quickly when I once dared to peel an orange differently than she had always done herself. Nowadays, I wonder if this was an underlying mental illness.
I was alone in dealing with Claudia, and she didn't have any means to help her improve her attitude or social skills.
Daniel Coyle writes in his book The Culture Code about three important points to lead a successful group: building safety, sharing vulnerability, and establishing purpose.
Building safety means you can express yourself in any way without hesitation. A major characteristic of feeling safe at the workplace could be that your team leader cares about you, your life and your performance and success. In a company that has taken the time to build safety, the employees have a relationship with the leader, where communication is open and mistakes are used as tools to improve.
My supervisor did not create safety, as I felt continuously foolish and enslaved.
What I wanted most was the freedom to express my opinions, to ask questions (even stupid ones,) and to not feel like a complete fool. I wanted to be creative and to think in my own ways. I needed the certainty of being accepted as a person who thinks and acts differently, and being supported in my strengths.
AUTHOR BIO
Pietrina Labate is a student at the University of Perugia (Universita' degli studi di Perugia) with German roots, who spent Spring 2019 at the Umbra Institute. Her university offers their students the opportunity to participate in some courses at the Umbra Institute. This experience allowed her to improve her English and make new friends with the American students at Umbra.
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