Real Man

Yoo-hyun tried to speak as gently as possible, not to hurt his feelings.

“I know that the project has progressed well and fast thanks to your passion. But now we are on track, aren’t we?”

“Are you saying that we should slow down the development because we are on track?”

“No. I’m saying that you should trust and delegate to your employees. Instead, you should pay more attention to other areas outside of your work.”

“What are you talking about? You were the one who told me to focus on the development and ignore everything else.”

Hyun Kyungyoung was not making things up.

Yoo-hyun had pushed him hard, knowing that it was a hard path. It was not his intention, but it was his fault for not explaining properly.

“Yes. You’re right. I asked you to do that. But I didn’t want you to sleep in your office.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine. I’m still in good shape.”

“The problem is not you, but the employees who can’t go home.”

“Go home? What does that have to do with me sleeping here?”

“How can any employee go home when you are sleeping in the office? That’s why your department has the worst overtime rate.”

How can the team leader stay still when the manager is working all night?

The team leader has to follow the manager’s example.

The employees have to do unnecessary overtime, feeling pressured.

Yoo-hyun was serious about this issue, but Hyun Kyungyoung did not take it seriously.

“I admit that our department has a lot of overtime. But that’s because we need to.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Yes. Do you know how much the group leader praised us for working hard? We have to impress him now, so that our department can grow bigger next year.”

“And then what?”

“Then the employees will benefit. They just have to endure for a while. There’s not much left of this year.”

He said a lot, but he meant that he was doing this for the group leader’s approval.

Where did it go wrong?

Hyun Senior was not promoted to team leader because of his lack of political skills, but he had a strong sense of responsibility and his internal evaluation by the employees was not bad. He had experience in both the business unit and the CTO, and he never had a conflict with the employees.

Yoo-hyun recalled the evaluation that Jung Hyun-woo had given to Hyun Kyungyoung.

Yoo-hyun had chosen Hyun Kyungyoung as the leader, not only because he was suitable for the semiconductor display, but also because he thought he would be on the side of the employees, not the upper management, as he had a rebellious spirit and a high reputation among the employees.

But what the hell?

When he opened the lid, he found a lot of problems with the novice leader.

He was only driven by his ambition, without caring about the organization.

He didn’t know the line between pushing hard and being reasonable, and he didn’t know when to give carrots and when to use sticks.

He should have at least some sense, but he didn’t even have that.

No, he actually thought he was doing well.

The amazing performance he achieved in a short time clouded his judgment.

“Are you doing this for yourself, not for the employees?”

“What do you mean? For myself?”

“You have already achieved your goal for this year. You can be promoted to executive director even if you just stay still.”

Yoo-hyun touched his hidden desire, and Hyun Kyungyoung blushed.

He was hurt in his pride, but he couldn’t get angry at Yoo-hyun.

He had a strong backing, enough to create the future product department.

He couldn’t risk his promotion by offending him.

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He pretended to be ignorant and stubborn.

“Ahem! I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m not doing this for my promotion.”

“Then why are you pushing yourself so hard?”

“For the whole department. When else do we have a chance to be noticed by the group leader, the management innovation manager, and the other business unit heads? We have to stand out now, so that we can get recognition.”

“Aren’t the employees already getting enough recognition?”

Unlike LCD and OLED, there was no alternative workforce for semiconductor display.

They had to be noticed in this situation, and they also achieved good results, so many employees received rewards.

It was a good enough situation, but Hyun Kyungyoung shook his head.

“No. That’s not enough. You have to row when the water is high.”

“The water that boils quickly cools quickly. If you push yourself like this, you will decline next year.”

“Next year? We just have to find a better item and go ahead with more vigor.”

“Are you really confident? Do you think you can get another customer like Google?”

“That’s…”

Hyun Kyungyoung hesitated, and Yoo-hyun tried to respond as gently as possible.

“You can’t just chase higher places, without building your foundation. You have to go step by step, especially at times like this.”

In a large organization, it is much better to achieve 100% of your goal consistently, than to achieve 200% of your goal once.

That way, you can build trust in the organization, and the employees can also produce results in a stable environment.

This is how you can find a sustainable way to create results.

This is the leader’s competence.

Why didn’t he know this?

Hyun Kyungyoung didn’t know what Yoo-hyun was thinking, and he looked incredulous.

“So you’re saying that we should deliberately rest when we can do better?”

“I’m saying that you should run the organization according to the situation. The employees are probably overloaded.”

“The limit can always be broken. That’s how you grow.”

“We are not a start-up. We should create a stable working environment for the employees, rather than squeezing them. Didn’t you learn that in the leader training?”

Hyun Kyungyoung’s face hardened at Yoo-hyun’s explanation.

“Leader training?”

“…”

Yoo-hyun lost his words at the blank expression of Hyun Kyungyoung.

‘He didn’t even receive the leader training.’

He couldn’t blame him any more, since the situation was like this.

This was not just his personal problem.

It was a problem of the company system that did not provide proper training for the leaders.

It was also a problem that there was no organization that could stop the leader from leading the employees in the wrong direction.

The root cause was Yoo-hyun, who did not consider these issues when he hastily created the department.

Yoo-hyun had to admit that the result of pursuing efficiency was so bitter.

Clang.

Yoo-hyun came out of the office and shook his head.

He had just met the manager, but he felt like he had a lot of homework.

Especially the last words that Hyun Kyungyoung said made his head ache.

-Don’t worry about the employees. They are getting rewarded for their hard work. They are all happy and working hard.

Happy my ass.

Hyun Kyungyoung was deeply deluded.

A leader should be strong but reasonable, but he didn’t know the line.

He didn’t know the line, so he didn’t know when to give carrots and when to use sticks.

He should have at least some sense, but he didn’t even have that.

No, he actually thought he was doing well.

The amazing performance he achieved in a short time clouded his judgment.

“How am I going to fix this?”

What if Yoo-hyun was a boss with the authority to hire and fire?

He would have immediately pressed down Hyun Kyungyoung and harshly pointed out his problems.

But Yoo-hyun didn’t have that right.

Even if he did, if he clashed with him here, the hidden problems would be buried.

He needed to look more carefully at the problems, to prevent them from happening again.

It meant that he needed more time.

“Sigh.”

Yoo-hyun opened the door of the emergency exit on the third floor.

He wanted to feel the outside air and calm his suffocating feelings.

As soon as Yoo-hyun stepped toward the stairs, he heard a man’s voice.

“No, honey, I can’t go home this week. I have a lot of work at the company. I told you, this is the last time. Haah… I miss our daughter too. But what can I do in this situation?”

The man was leaning against the corner of the narrow hallway, talking to the wall.

It was so clear that Yoo-hyun felt embarrassed.

As Yoo-hyun quietly tried to climb the stairs, the man’s voice got louder.

“Do you ever think about me? I’m not working hard for myself, I’m doing this for our family! Don’t you care about me?”

He had a lot to say.

Yoo-hyun glanced at the man and froze.

He couldn’t believe it, but the man was from the future product department.

The man turned his head at the same time and was startled.

“No, honey, I’m just… Huh!”

Huff huff.

Yoo-hyun waved his palms and signaled him to continue, but the man had already hung up the phone.

“Sir, that call was nothing…”

“Mr. Kwon, please continue your call. I was just passing by.”

“…”

Yoo-hyun remembered the harsh words that Kwon Iktae had said to him when he was in the CTO.

-No, you must be young and ignorant, but making a semiconductor substrate is a completely different problem from putting OLED devices on it. Why are you making trouble for us by doing something you don’t know?

The young director he had ignored had convinced the president and even created the future technology department.

He made the impossible semiconductor display a reality overnight.

He was not only skilled, but also had a strong drive.

According to the information he heard from his colleagues in Hansung Tower, Yoo-hyun was the type who would break anything that got in his way, whether it was a boss or a subordinate.

He even made one of the three evil demons of Hansung Tower leave the company.

It was an exaggerated information, but Kwon Iktae believed it.

He was afraid that he would be doomed if he crossed Yoo-hyun.

‘What should I do?’

Kwon Iktae rolled his eyes, not knowing what to do, and Yoo-hyun looked puzzled.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, no problem.”

“I didn’t mean to, but I think I interrupted you at an important moment.”

“It’s okay. I was about to hang up anyway.”

Kwon Iktae waved his hand, and Yoo-hyun cautiously suggested.

He wanted to hear the stories of the lower employees, not the upper ones.

“Would you like to have a cup of tea with me?”

“Me? Oh… Why, why do you say that?”

“I have something I want to hear.”

“Is it about that thing…”

“Yes. You’re right.”

Yoo-hyun remembered the conversation he had overheard and nodded.

For some reason, Kwon Iktae’s face became thoughtful.

Yoo-hyun and Kwon Iktae sat on a bench on the roof of the OLED 2 factory.

They each had a vending machine coffee in their hands.

“Do you feel a lot of pressure?”

“No, no. I don’t feel any pressure.”

Kwon Iktae shook his head vigorously.

He couldn’t say that he felt pressure when the person in front of him was the cause.

On the other hand, Yoo-hyun took his words in a different way.

‘He must feel a lot of pressure, since he hasn’t been home for weeks.’

Then why did he say no?

Yoo-hyun thought he knew the reason, and he spoke carefully.

“You can be honest with me. There will be no disadvantage for you.”

“Disadvantage?”

“Yes. I’m human too, so I was angry and all that. But I can’t find the problems without cross-checking.”

“Fi, find the problems?”

“Yes. I have to cut them out ruthlessly. I can’t leave the wrong things as they are.”

Even if Hyun Kyungyoung did it out of ignorance, he couldn’t let the problem go.

He had to deal with the attendance issue at least.

Yoo-hyun showed his determination.

Thud.

Kwon Iktae put down his paper cup and bowed his head.

“Sir, I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”

“Why are you doing this? It’s not your fault. The manager should take the responsibility.”

“Huh! No, please don’t tell him!”

What did he have on him that made him act like this?

Yoo-hyun hid his astonishment and comforted Kwon Iktae.

“Why are you doing this?”

“If he finds out, I’m really done for.”

“Why? The victim is Mr. Kwon, who…”

“It’s because I said something bad to you back then…”

Yoo-hyun couldn’t stand it and raised his voice, and Kwon Iktae closed his eyes and spilled his guts.