Lazy Louis

It started as a typical chat during a rare moment of downtime. However, my employee dropped a nickname that hit the air like a lead weight: “Lazy Louis.”

I froze. As a leader, you’re trained to maintain a certain professional distance, but curiosity—and a bit of disbelief—got the better of me. I stopped the conversation right there. "Why did you call the EHS Manager that?" I asked, keeping my voice level.

What followed was a masterclass in how a reputation, once earned, becomes a ghost that follows you from one company to the next.

My employee had worked with Louis years prior at a different company. Back then, they were peers in a role that demanded grit and frequent manual labor. According to the employee, every time the heavy lifting started, Louis would vanish after providing long-winded, exasperated explanations. He didn’t just avoid the work; he choreographed his exit with a performance of why he couldn't do it.

The name stuck. And ten years later, in a completely different company, it had resurfaced.

For the next three years, I lived in a state of constant mental gymnastics. Every time I looked at Louis, I saw the "Lazy" moniker burned into his professional profile. There were close calls—times when the word "Lazy" was on the tip of my tongue during a particularly slow safety audit—but I held it back.

The Lesson Learned: Reputation is a Permanent Record

We often think that a "fresh start" at a new company means the slate is wiped clean. It isn't. The safety world is smaller than we realize, and your work ethic is the only thing that travels faster than your resume.