The Firing of Don Pepperoni

The firing of Don Pepperoni, like the autumn that arrived in Prague just a few weeks previous, came fast and cold. Don Pepperoni was for a short time the only non-Czech/Slovak team lead in our office. This made him unique amongst his peers. He was also hired externally meaning he had no background at all in his new occupation. Perhaps El Presidente had unrealistic expectations of him when he was hired, he was asked to take over a team that had just lost a large chunk of its people, while at the same time having to learn everything that he had to learn in a short period of time.

Most of the people that didn't work under him tended to have a good opinion of Don Pepperoni. He was easy to talk to, had a good sense of humor, he even spoke Dutch well enough that you could have a conversation with him.

In any case, last Friday, El Presidente asked him to come to the meeting room. From my cubicle I could see them get in together. There have been rumors about his future, or lack thereof, with our company, and it looked like his time with us would end right there.
The meeting didn't last long, just several minutes later they came out of the meeting room, and Don Pepperoni started cleaning out his desk. He was still in the probation period, so he had to leave immediately.

There's several theories floating around in the office about his dismissal. Some say it was because of the bad relationshps he had with the people in his team, they didn't like him, apparently, because he made them work harder. Others say it was because he and Mother Goose couldn't get along. Whatever the reason, Don Pepperoni has gone, and I wish him the best.