Empowered

Ever wonder what other people think about you? Your work? What you should be focused on?

Colin Jensen is obsessed with these questions.

As the newly appointed President of the Chemicals Division of the TruePhase Instrument Company, Jensen want to know everything -- where the weak spots are, what needs to be fixed, what's wrong with management, and most importantly how the employees feel about their new manager. To find out, Jensen takes a page out of reality television, constructing his own, private version of the show "Undercover Boss."

Jensen's Undercover Boss, however, has no cameras, scripts, or staff. It's just him posing as new shipping department employee Conner Jackson. In the absence of the crew, Jensen finds a veritable cesspool of illegal and immoral activities taking place on the factory floor -- illicit drugs, assault, intimidation, extortion. All of this seems to revolve around union boss, Walt Sharp, and his neanderthal henchman, Lazlo.

Grasping at straws, Jensen sends young analyst Sandy Martin in search of answers to clues he uncovers on the shop floor. The clues leads Sandy to the tip of a conspiracy that could bring the company to its knees. It also puts her squarely in the sights of Sharp and his cohorts.

Jensen must decide how far he's willing to push and how much he's willing to tolerate as things progress from shockingly bad to worse, all during a central Indiana winter blizzard.

Auteur

Tom Spears earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Engineering from Purdue University, and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard University. He spent twenty-seven years working for four U.S. based public Corporations. During fifteen of those years he held a title of President or Group President. Tom retired from his last Group President position in 2010 to pursue his interest in writing fiction. He still consults occasionally, having expertise in manufacturing, engineering, pricing, strategy and corporate politics. Tom lives with his wife and six children in Ashland, Nebraska.