The COVID19 pandemic forced many companies to shut down their offices and force their employees to work from home. This was seen by many members of the workforce to use the extra time on their hands to either develop their relationships with their families, look at pursuing their passions or learn new skills. Many employees also took it as an opportunity to just relax and use this new mode of working to finally be able to take some of the pressure off.

The lockdown was particularly harsh on people in mid to senior management who relied on the proximity to their bosses to ensure that they get noticed and move up the corporate ladder. Some industries like IT, Finance and management consulting were the ones where the employees suffered from the sudden lack of a workplace to “strut their stuff”.

One such employee was a 41-year-old management consultant for one of the Big 4 firms from Hyderabad, Vijay K.

“I got fired in between my presentation to one of our biggest clients,” he told us with tears in his eyes. “The only person responsible for this is Gary Vaynerchuk.”

During the lockdown, Vijay found himself getting addicted to YouTube motivational videos as he tried to keep his spirits up despite the intense loneliness that he experienced as he could not go to the office. Being stuck at home all day, he immediately was drawn to serial entrepreneur, multi-millionaire and owner of Vayner Media, Gary Vaynerchuk and his videos.

“Those videos were so inspiring and motivating. My performance at work was at an all-time high as I loved the whole hustle culture. I used to work harder than anyone I knew and kept pushing myself to the limit. I had no intention of being an entrepreneur but Gary used to say that being top management in a big company was not bad either. So all my efforts were put into climbing the corporate ladder at an unmatchable pace.”

Vijay used to consume almost every piece of content that Gary V put out on various social channels. At one point in time, he used to watch more than 3 hours of Gary V’s content every day. “The first thing I did after waking up was to play his videos for morning inspiration and I used to sleep listening to his interviews on various podcasts. He had become a part of my life.”

Little did Vijay realise that he had started incorporating his idols mannerisms and vocabulary unintentionally. His otherwise polished Tier-1 business school language was replaced with frequent expletives, crude examples and a certain uneasiness that his close co-workers had begun to notice. They attributed it to the pressures of working from home and his drive to reach the top of the game.

Things came to a crescendo when the doors of the office opened a few months ago. When he finally got a chance to go back to the office, Vijay walked in with a swagger and confidence that few of his colleagues could recognise. The otherwise calm and dignified demeanour was replaced with a brash, no-nonsense, in your face attitude that was unheard of in the management consulting circles.

“I had a very important client meeting a few weeks ago and it was probably the biggest one of my career till date. If I could clinch the deal I would have been promoted as a Director. So I went all out to impress them with my passion and commitment to the project,” said Vijay.

The scheduled 2-hour meeting was abruptly stopped after a 15-minute abuse filled, rambling tirade from Vijay on how the project would be handled. “I invoked my inner Gary V and kicked up a hornet’s nest by referring to our competition as ‘pieces of sh*t’ and how the whole industry is ‘f*cked up’. I was on a roll and did not realise what I was saying. The next thing I knew, my boss was telling me that I am fired and asking security to remove me from the building. HR called me the next day and completed all formalities in an hour.”

“Gary Vaynerchuk got me fired. I...