If being fired or involuntarily unemployed is the male version of rape,* then the boss who fires an employee is unconsciously experienced as a type of rapist. Because this boss is usually a man, millions of men who fire a few to save the jobs of many feel they are one part rapist and one part savior. Because few people understand the manager s internal conflict, the manager feels isolated, lonely, even alienated from parts of himself. A setup for alcoholism.
His drinking usually leads to others attacking him for his drunkenness. Friends often try to hear his problem but. because he can’t articulate what he doesn’t understand, both he and his friends feel helpless.
In most areas of life, we can turn to education to deepen understanding But most executives discover the academic community also views the executive who fires as a type of rapist, although the academic’s anger is disguised in ideas. Thus Marxist ideology — lamenting, in essence, the rape of the working class — might be the academic’s way of disguising his anger toward the executive w’ho fires •See chapter 6. section titled Is Unemployment to a Man the Psychological Equivalent of Rape to a Woman?
Some solutions? First, understand that the manager who fires is usually just playing out the downside of the savior role — saving the jobs of many by keeping the company competitive and therefore alive. Second, develop employee transition programs to assist the employee in his or her retraining for a new career opportunity. Third, develop industry-wide manager transition programs to help these managers feel as valuable to a sick company as surgeons feel to a sick person.