# Behaviours we no longer tolerate

- **Episode:** [222](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/222.md) (2025-08-12)
- **Type:** other
- **Tags:** behavior, tolerance, workplace
- **Time:** 32:40–38:41 (start 1960s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/222?t=1960](https://truthliesandwork.com/222?t=1960)

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[32:40] Leanne Elliott: Another one for you, Al. What's a bit— now we're talking on a similar theme. What's a behavior that you used to tolerate but will no longer entertain regardless of how many decades you've known a person?
[32:51] Al Elliott: Oh, I think it's bitching about people
[32:55] Leanne Elliott: Ooh
[32:55] Al Elliott: I used to be a salty little bugger. I used to love nothing because I was really insecure as a kid. And then also as a young adult or even Old adult. And you have to, I think you have to be insecure to be an entrepreneur. And I hate the word entrepreneur, but that's what we're calling it these days. Because otherwise, if you're satisfied with yourself and your life, then you don't wanna actually grow. So, um, uh, I used to be quite insecure, so I used to love it when other people come and go, hey, did you hear what happened down there? God, they got in so much trouble. They messed it up so bad. I'd be like, surely they can't have done that. They're really intelligent. Meaning I was asking one of those questions. Surely they can't. Are they really intelligent? Because I'm sure I've heard them being intelligent
[33:33] Leanne Elliott: Yeah
[33:33] Al Elliott: No, no, no, they totally messed up. Now, someone starts talking to me like that about someone or a group of people, not interested
[33:40] Leanne Elliott: Mm-hmm
[33:42] Al Elliott: What about you? Have you got one?
[33:43] Leanne Elliott: Mm, I think in a workplace setting, any form of sharking, cheating
[33:52] Al Elliott: What do you mean by sharking?
[33:53] Leanne Elliott: Taking advantage. So, for example, right, and this, this is how things stay with you, and I must have been 20, 5 or 6 when this happened. So, you're talking 15 years ago, and it's still pissing me off. So, I was a job coach, which meant I helped people who were unemployed, more than likely for a long period of time, regain work. And there was a rule within the team because there were occasions where a customer would change job coach for whatever reason, whether it be a capacity issue or one of us would change location or whatever else. So, there was always an element of risk in terms of if you were helping somebody find a job, then they get moved to another coach, that coach would then be with them when they got said job, so it wouldn't go against your targets
[34:37] Al Elliott: Yeah
[34:37] Leanne Elliott: So, the general rule in the team, which was reinforced supposedly by our manager, was that if you've put a note on the system specific about a job that you support this person with, regardless of when they get that job, even if they're with another coach, that'll go on your figures, your performance figures. So, for example, it was like, customer interviewed for, um, admin position at Royal Mail, expects to hear November 2012
[35:05] Al Elliott: You old man
[35:07] Leanne Elliott: I know. Um, and this is what I basically had. So then when I'd been moved on to another contract, but still had the same target, just in a different area. So I, I did like to check up on my customers and see how they're getting on, particularly ones that had done really well or were getting really close. So I logged onto the system, found this person, um, and the new— their new job coach had claimed their job with Royal Mail for the admin position that they heard of at that time
[35:35] Al Elliott: Not cool, man
[35:36] Leanne Elliott: Not cool. Not cool. So I phoned my manager and was like, um, can you explain this please? This doesn't seem fair. Oh, it doesn't matter, Leanne, it doesn't matter. You're on target this month anyway, it doesn't matter. No, it does matter, because if we're all allowed to break that rule, isn't upheld, it's no longer a rule. So we're all going to be sharking each other. And it just annoyed me. And you know what, you, you know who that person was?
[36:00] Al Elliott: Yep, CC
[36:01] Leanne Elliott: No, the coach
[36:02] Al Elliott: Oh, okay. Yeah, I know who you mean. Yeah, I'm not going to use that word
[36:09] Leanne Elliott: But at the time I was like, okay, I'll try and let it go. But I'd never really quite trust this person, but I tried to get on. And ultimately, throughout my entire career with that company, she was always the one that was taking opportunities away from me, from my team, taking the glory for herself, not acknowledging the successes that we had, making my life difficult all the ways. And now it's like, if somebody behaves like that, I'm not working with you anymore because If we have a conversation and, you know, it's like, okay, no, I understand, let's address that. Of course, fine. But this, no, I've not got the time because it's not going to end well
[36:46] Al Elliott: No, no. And in sales, there is that horrible thing in sales. You tend to, most organizations tend to move towards everyone's in it for themselves. And it's because of that. And it's such a shame where there was one company I used to sell telesales stuff for. Um, and, um, it was actually a really cool company because there was one girl in there Sorry, look at me. This is why I'm old, because I said girl and she was a woman. Uh, one woman in there, I can't remember her name, began with M. Um, and she used to always do a target very solidly, very quietly, do a target by Thursday. And then Friday, I think I've said this before on the pod, Friday she'd ring up, keep ringing up, selling, and then give it to the people who were short of their target. And then they did on Monday, they worked and they, uh, I mean, to be fair, maybe she was, maybe she was just like, she, I don't know. There's no angle there. No, she was just a lovely person
[37:32] Leanne Elliott: Yeah
[37:33] Al Elliott: Lovely person
[37:33] Leanne Elliott: Yeah. And I've worked in more sales-based environments where people weren't like that at all
[37:39] Al Elliott: No
[37:39] Leanne Elliott: So yeah, to the point where our person who used to like direct the calls when they'd come in, if there was a, like a queue or waiting time, there'd been, that role had been a new role created. And I was asked by this person who subsequently got the job, whether I was gonna apply for it. And I said, no, I'm going back to university in September. There's no point. And he was like, yeah, but you could get it for 9 months and it's like almost twice the salary. And I was like, yeah, but I'm not gonna take that opportunity away from somebody who really wants it. So when then that person would, if I was a bit behind on my target, would send me the really good calls
[38:16] Al Elliott: Oh, amazing. Amazing
[38:18] Leanne Elliott: Because in fact, it meets your respect, doesn't it?
[38:20] Al Elliott: Right. So if you are under the age of 30 and you are listening, karma is real. God, I can't show you the science behind it, But it is real and it will bite you or it will kiss you on the ass, whichever of the two is, is worse. Leanne, I feel like we're, we're on about, um, 35 minutes now, so we've probably got room for about 10 more. 10 more minutes