(Before you begin reading this story, I, Wendy Schrlau, Desi’s editor, would like to tell you that Desi has a wicked fun sense of humor and no harm has come to Desi or the Staff at CW. Now enjoy the story!)
When Michael Bellantuono took over the Bristol and Watertown centers in 2008, the Bristol Center was about to close. Michael talked to Ron Buccilli and begged him to give it another chance and they gave him a year to turn things around. With some changes to staffing and the creation of schedules, it was booming by the time the year was up. Although the Bristol Center was thriving, there was still something missing. Michael needed a princess named Desi Cammuso to brighten up his staff’s day, every day, and he got his wish. On July 10, 2022, he called a staff meeting to give them a surprise and introduced me as the new princess of CW Resources. They took one look at me and quit the next day. But after a while, they came back and learned to tolerate me. Now they just lock me in the closet when they don’t want to deal with me. Story of my life. Moving on, sometimes when there are work problems, it’s easier to blame it on management. People would often say the management sucks here or they don’t care about their employees, they only care about making money. They blame the boss without realizing that their boss is human like them. In this article, we will give Michael Bellantuono the chance to tell his story about the difficulties that come along with being a big boss.
Before discussing Michael’s interview, let’s talk about the differences between a boss and a leader because most people confuse these terms. You see, someone who is a boss takes credit, micromanages you, doesn’t consider your advice or value your opinion, and bullies their employees. That’s what a boss is, and granted, some people like the ones I just described in power bully and abuse their employees. If that’s the case, you have every right to be angry at them and you should probably leave that job because nobody has the right to mistreat you like that. That’s unacceptable. However, those bad apples that are in power make up a small percentage of bosses. Most bosses are leaders and a leader is different from a boss.
A leader is someone who teaches you, believes in you, encourages you, and gives you the freedom to grow and develop as an employee. Although we sometimes use these terms interchangeably, they’re not the same. During the interview, Michael touched on the topic of micromanaging and he explained to me how he doesn’t micromanage because that stunts the employee’s growth. He wants to see the employees grow and develop. He wants to take his employees under his wing and he wants to trust that they’ll do a great job for him and the company. “It always goes back to the t word,” he said.
When I interviewed Michael and asked what it is like to be a boss, he said there’s a ton of responsibility that is placed upon your shoulders as a leader. He has to lead by example for his team and he sets the tone and mood for the center. I would say that he does a pretty good job of keeping the Bristol and Watertown centers in a happy environment. A lot of times, he has to hide his emotions from his employees when he has a bad day. He has to always follow the rules if he expects his employees to follow them. He never can bring his personal problems into the
Workplace. He has all those people counting on him to guide them in the right direction. In order to provide the clients the best six hours of their day as possible, the staff needs to be ready to go.
Although he cares about his employees very much, Michael has to put the business first before anything else because if one of his employees messes up, it is on him. All the complaints about his employees and about the centers he runs fall back onto him. That can create a lot of stress on a boss who is trying their best to make everyone happy. He said during the interview,” You can do everything right and still not make everybody happy.” Despite his best intentions to please everyone, sometimes he can’t fulfill everyone’s needs. He has to think what’s best for the company. Then why do people get so angry at bosses when there are work problems? Why do we accuse them of not giving a crap about their employees? That’s what we’re going to figure out.
I want to write this article because I’ve seen employees blame management for their problems so many times. Whether they’re upset about their boss changing their job for a day, or they feel like their manager doesn’t understand what goes on in the DSO room, for example, and they feel like they’re putting unrealistic expectations on them. Whatever the employee is upset about, a lot of people blame management for things going wrong. Now, before the Gen Xers and millennials come for me and other people who may be thinking this silly Gen Zer is defending management and she doesn’t know what she’s talking about because she never had to deal with a boss like mine, just hear me out.
You’re right. I never really had to deal with a boss other than my editor, Wendy, who doesn’t pay me to think. She only pays me to write amazing articles for CW and that’s it. Much like the rest of CW doesn’t pay me to think. Which is strange because my brain runs 24/7 with thoughts.
Anyways, I’m not saying that you don’t have the right to be frustrated when there’s a situation at work that’s unfair. You absolutely do have the right to be upset when a lack of staff in DSO or when they didn’t communicate with you that you have a run in the afternoon. Your feelings are valid when a work situation is out of your control and you wish you could fix it. And you have every right to vent to a friend, family member, coworker or your pet who’s a better listener than the humans in your life. Can we please be honest for a hot minute? Anyways, I’m not saying that you don’t have the right to be frustrated with your company sometimes.
Working with people can be stressful and difficult sometimes, especially when there’s a lack of communication between everyone within the organization or company. It’s very hard to work when there is a communication issue in the workplace. In fact, Michael cited that very reason when I asked him about work drama. I asked him what the causes of work drama are, and he responded with a lack of communication. If people learn to communicate better with each other, it would make CW or any other company run so much smoother. Side note here, that’s the whole reason why I wrote “The Best Gift of All Times.” I wrote it to inspire others to use the gift of their voice and have a conversation with someone before they get upset with them.
Besides a lack of communication creating workplace drama, Michael also stated that the second reason why it happens is that some people like to create drama to make their lives more
interesting. Their lives aren’t interesting enough, so they need to add some drama. Some people just have something to complain about always, and it’s not necessarily anything that you did. Back to our original question, why do people blame the bosses sometimes when it’s not even their fault for the situation? I personally thought that it’s because people forget their bosses were human. But Michael had a different answer for this question. Check it out.
Michael doesn’t necessarily think his employees forget that he’s human. It’s easier to think of him as a position. It’s easier to get mad at the position and blame all of your problems on Management and Corporate. “They suck” people often say when they’re venting about work. Management sucks. Corporate sucks. Too often, we blame the “position” without realizing who’s actually behind the position. Michael or someone who has the best intentions for their employees and the company. “When you humanize someone, it takes away from the person’s narrative to be angry.” It’s very easy to blame everyone else for problems at the workplace or in life. It’s very easy to hold a grudge against someone. But, it takes a leader to see it from another person’s perspective and ask for them to have a productive conversation about the ways to solve problems. And it takes a leader to understand their boss is only human and, although they may make a few mistakes and get it wrong a little bit of time, they’re trying to help the company reach its highest potential as possible while supporting their employees and their clients in any way they can.
I thank Michael for taking the time to let me interview him and for getting the chance to tell his story on this platform. I really enjoyed writing his story and giving people insight into the big boss’s life. We all get angry sometimes. We all get frustrated sometimes. But knowing how to handle your emotions, recognize that nobody’s perfect, and talk it out among one another will greatly improve your working conditions. It’s a crazy world out there. Let’s try to love and support one another as best as we can.
Back to Blog