Dallas, Texas
"…what if my daddy is right and I'm wrong? What then?" looking directly at Doctor Williams as he spoke, JR's demeanour moved back and forth between being frustrated and angry and being childlike and needy. "I'll tell you what then; then I lose everything. If my plan to keep Ewing Oil afloat in the predicted bad economy fails, then it won't matter that daddy can't legally take Ewing Oil away from me, because there won't be much of anything left for me to take over when he retires anyway. On the other side, if I am right and everything works out exactly as I planned, then that's wonderful and I'm thinking too much about nothing, but I can't help but feel as though the odds of that scenario playing out without issue are slim to none, especially if you factor in daddy's reaction to being wrong. Only a stupid man would discount Jock Ewing's opinion as nonsense and only a very brave, stupid man would rub it in his nose that he was wrong. I'm not stupid and I don't have any interest in getting on my daddy's bad side, so either way, whether I'm right or wrong, I don't really win".
"I know you're going to ask how that makes me feel, you always do, so I'll save you some time; it frustrates me, it angers me and it worries me. I hate losing and I hate being wrong, but one of those is going to happen and I don't know which one is worse. Either daddy is right and Ewing Oil is ill-prepared for what's to come, or I'm right and my futureproofing plans are going to do what they're designed to do; one way or the other though, someone is going to be annoyed, because we're too alike and neither of us want to be wrong. Neither of us wants anything bad to happen to Ewing Oil either, but I have a strong feeling that if my plan, the one daddy is sceptical of, is what gets us through the bad times, there will be some resentment coming my way. The idea of resentment worries me more personally than professionally though; I don't want to be on bad terms with my daddy"
"When it comes to professional concerns, I have plenty of those too; I'm worried that daddy's negative opinion is going to affect the way the company runs, and I'm worried that the possibility of resentment could also arise if he decides I'm to blame for things going bad. You don't know my daddy, I'm one of the reasons for Ewing Oil's growth in the last decade, but getting him to acknowledge that positive is a lot harder than getting him to acknowledge or remember the negative, especially where my youngest brother is concerned. I've been planning for possible bad times for almost a year and as I said before, I believe my plan is solid, but you can sure as hell bet that the moment something goes wrong, it's going to be my fault. I'm not a clueless, I know I'm a very capable adult, hell, I'm going to be the president of Ewing Oil sometime in the future, but do you think that makes any real difference in day-to-day business? It doesn't, not when something goes wrong".
Holding up his hand as JR paused, Doctor Williams knew it was time to intervene. The JR that was speaking now was a slightly different JR to the man he had encountered in previous appointments, this JR was clearly not as strong and secure as he liked to pretend her was, and just like Sue Ellen, his insecurity seemed to stem from his upbringing. Clearing his throat, Doctor Williams looked at JR and then responded to what he'd heard so far, "explain something to me. I keep hearing 'my daddy' this and 'my daddy' that, but I've yet to hear you really elaborate on exactly why you're so willing to kowtow to your daddy's wishes and why you seem convinced that despite your confidence in your research and planning, something is going to be wrong and everything is going to end badly. Your self-confidence clearly exists, but for whatever reason, you are allowing negative, probably irrational thoughts to take priority over that self-confidence".
"Do you remember when we all discussed the hold Patricia had on Sue Ellen? When we all discussed and agreed that it was counterproductive for her to be so concerned about things that may or may not happen and that just acknowledging her status as an independent adult wasn't enough, she actually had to believe it and live by her words if she wanted things to be different. I'll let you in on a little secret here, that lesson was not specific to Sue Ellen and her relationship with her mother, the general message applies to a lot of things in life. If you're an educated, experienced oilman and businessman and you're confident that your business plans are the right way forward for Ewing Oil, then act like it. Your father is your boss and that's a whole complicated issue in itself, but even if that wasn't the case, there's no reason why you need to think the way you are now".
"This may be a bit difficult for you to do seeing as you've only ever worked for your father, but try to imagine this situation with another man as your boss. You're the vice president of a huge company, you're entrusted with a lot of power and have spent years learning and working your way up to having that privilege and responsibility. As part of your job, you futureproofed as best you could and you believe that at present, those plans will be enough to see the company through any difficulties in the near future. Your boss isn't so sure, he's older and he thinks his experience in business and in life are worth more than yours. Perhaps he's remembering previous economic disasters and how even the best, most brilliant businessmen lost a lot; or perhaps he's just used to making decisions and having people listen to his opinion and in this situation he has some other, unknown reason for thinking the way he does and he expects you to do as his other employees do, listen. Now, tell me what you would say to your boss to convince him that your opinion is worth just as much as his, and your opinion isn't just opinion, it's based in facts and informed predictions. There would have to be some give and take, but give and take is all about communicating and coming to a mutual agreement, it's the opposite of passiveness and worrying about whether your actions are going to ruin everything simply because they were your actions, no matter whether they're positive or negative. While you're thinking about that, consider too how you would react if your professional opinion wasn't appreciated as it should be in a company. Resentment isn't just something other people feel toward you; you can feel it toward them too. Take a minute to think about all of that, neutrally at first, then more personally, and then tell me what you think".
Speaking firmly and rationally, but kindly too, Doctor Williams looked at JR with an expression as if to indicate that he meant everything he had just said. JR clearly had a lot of conflicting, confusing personal feelings, ones that weren't necessarily directly related to the actual business situation he was in, and to properly deal with his concerns, he really needed to be able to separate the two. A small change in context could be just the tool he needed to assist him, and even if it wasn't, it couldn't do any harm for JR to see his thoughts from a different perspective.
To be continued…