Some people are almost two different people at home and in the workplace.
Take my grandfather, for example. He is one of the most laid-back people you’ll ever meet. He’s always cracking jokes or laughing at other people’s jokes; never gets too bent out of shape about things not going according to schedule and things like that.
Of course, that’s outside of the office. When he’s in the office, many people, myself included, have referred to him as a very meticulous. Everything has to be on schedule, has to be his way, and nothing is a joke when it comes to business.
It’s not all that surprising. He built his business from the ground up. Just 10 years before he started it, he’d filed for bankruptcy, and five years later, he started a business with one of his sons that ended with them on less than amicable terms just three years later. Then a year later, he started a business on his own fixing and selling used screw machines-or “refurbished multi spindle lathes,” as he always made me refer to them when I worked for him in high school.
He’ll have a beer and talk about whatever comes to mind with you at the bar, but when you get in his office and start talking about turned parts and multi spindle machines , he talks with one purpose and nothing gets him off track.