Bluff had a meeting with Fountain. He reviewed all his notes from the meeting with Fountain and he and Fountain agreed on some things that Fountain would do differently to address the concerns of the sales staff. As far as Bluff was concerned, the matter was settled. But Fountain didn't feel that way. Fountain was angry to say the least. He thought he had a good relationship with his salespeople. How could they go behind his back and talk to Bluff before they talked to him about their issues, he wondered. And how could they be so personal in their attack on him, he wondered. "It might have been OK to talk with Bluff about some of those issues, but to tell Bluff things like I was an excellent salesman, but I couldn't make that work for me as a manager? Why would they say that ? I don't get it." "I felt stabbed in the back" was how he described his feelings. He was not looking forward to the next sales staff meeting. He wasn't sure how to react at the next meeting. Act like nothing had happened? Be businesslike and professional but also cool toward the sales staff? Be mad and bring it out in the open? Fountain was uncertain what to do next, so his next move was to cancel the weekly staff meetings. He did this partly to avoid a situation where he might confront his sales staff. He also did it in part, and he understood this, to distance himself from what he thought was a "bunch of complainers and malcontents