In a company, is the one with the most authority always the boss?
Not necessarily.
The boss might be the wealthiest, but not necessarily the most capable of making money.
In some situations, the boss might not even be the wealthiest.
At the Yan Nuo Psychological Center, Howard isn't the one whose word is law.
Facing Weng Pinting's questions, he wore a slightly reserved apologetic smile and quickly explained, "I was planning to talk to you today about this; Nan Zhubin's situation is somewhat special."
Weng Pinting slightly raised her chin: "I'm listening."
Howard looked helpless, "He's a disciple of an old friend of mine. Due to a recent mishap, he needs a job, so he was pushed to me."
At these words, Weng Pinting's eyebrows almost shot up.
Howard quickly continued, "I know you've said not to put personal connections into the consultation group, but this person is different. My old friend is a psychology professor at Jiangdu University. We've been good friends since we were young. This Nan Zhubin is his student, very solid professionally, reportedly accumulated hundreds of consultation hours during his undergraduate years..."
Weng Pinting's raised eyebrows smoothed out as she considered, "A graduate student from Jiangdu University?"
Seeing her emotions calming a bit, Howard nodded repeatedly.
Psychological consultation is a complex industry. For frontline consultants, most aren't actually from psychology but rather from other fields like education, management, those over thirty who acquired professional qualifications and then took on the job.
Conversely, psychology majors rarely engage in consultations after graduation. Most undergraduates choose to do foundational research, course development, human resources, or even other unrelated professions.
In a class of psychology undergraduates, those who choose to and can do consultations can often be counted on one hand.
However, compared to those non-professional consultants who rely on social experience to compensate for a lack of professional knowledge, most consultation companies prefer talents with formal training.
Weng Pinting was one such person.
Seeing her more relaxed expression, Howard seized the opportunity, "If the resume wasn't excellent, I wouldn't have accepted him even with my brother's connection. How could I place just anyone under your command?"
As the consultation manager, Weng Pinting slightly nodded, pondering, "Jiangdu University has a top-ranked psychology program nationwide—so is this Nan Zhubin here for an internship? Why is he just a consultation assistant?"
"...No, he's full-time."
Weng Pinting narrowed her eyes, "Finish the story, make it brief."
Howard continued, "Apparently, during his graduate internship, he took on a severe depression case, and then there was an incident where the client committed suicide in the consultation room. The matter blew up, and he was directly expelled."
"Our circle is small, and news spreads fast. My old friend couldn't bear to see his student without a livelihood, and knowing I needed people for my consultation efforts, he referred him to me."
Weng Pinting slammed the table, "You haven't been completely honest with me, have you? That friend of yours isn't truly a 'good friend,' right? Otherwise, why would I be your consultation manager instead of him?"
Howard hurriedly used his mid-aged charm to placate her, "We have a better relationship, for sure."
Weng Pinting shook her head, "You want to leverage this student to foster a relationship and bring in a psychology professor as an advisor to the center, right? But look at what's happened now!"
Howard was indignant, "I never expected this student to mess up a depression case and then so boldly take over another depression case."
At this point, Weng Pinting was no longer angry.
She thoughtfully rested her chin on her hand, recalling the scene she'd just witnessed.
"This might not necessarily be the case; the client may not have been deliberately taken by him."
Howard was startled, clearly clueless about where Weng Pinting's statement came from.
"But that's not the most pressing thing now; we need to find a way to reassure the client and her guardian, though we don't know what the situation will be in a bit." Weng Pinting exhaled deeply, "If necessary, I'll personally take over this client later."
Howard quickly nodded, "The professional matters are in your hands, and I'll handle the management. Don't worry, I'll terminate this student, and no firm in Jiangdu will employ him after this!"
He was disgruntled, "My friend was unreliable, referring such a student here, how inconsiderate!"
...
The boss left behind a pensive manager in the office, striding out quickly.
A circle of gazes immediately shifted to the consultants and assistants; they were obviously curious about the discussion between the two leaders.
Snooping on other consultants' client files and taking clients, whether at the consultant level or the center level, are serious issues. It not only breaks ethical codes but also tramples industry rules.
They wanted to know the outcome of this issue.
"Bald Yang, you did well."
Howard's words set the tone.
"We've just established our center, so building our reputation is crucial. In this situation, you chose to put yourself aside first and protect the center's name. You haven't done anything wrong; you did well!"
Bald Yang was relieved and gratefully acknowledged, "Thank you, boss."
Then Howard cleared his throat, looked at the sparse crowd of consultants and assistants, as well as the eagerly watching Bald Yang.
"Presumably, everyone knows what happened by now. I need to make a formal statement..."
He had just started when receptionist Lu Jia clicked her high heels back, interrupting him.
"Boss, the consultation is over."
Howard was momentarily speechless, checked his watch, estimating the consultation time indeed was up.
Although outwardly unchanged, Howard, as the owner of the center, felt extremely dissatisfied at that moment.
But considering the reputation of the newly founded center and soon having to explain to the visitor, he tried hard to relax his facial muscles, preparing to greet them.
Weng Pinting heard the commotion, stepped quickly out of the office, and asked the crucial question, "What's the situation, how did the client react? Are they upset? On a scale from 1 to 5, what level of upset would you say they are?"
Lu Jia replied in a weak tone, "The client seemed quite satisfied, probably a level 4 satisfaction? Her guardian is already considering long-term consultation at our center and was just asking me about prices, but I don't know how to quote for this situation..."
Howard frowned tightly, "Level 4 is that serious... Wait, quoting? What kind of quoting?"