Air is for closers only. Waterboarding as Sales Management

BLAKE: We're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, First Prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anybody wanna see second prize? Second Prize is a set of steak knives. Third Prize is you're Fired. [Link to awesomeness of full scene dialogue]

Like many, I always loved the "motivation" scene in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. Alec Baldwin as Blake, the owners' corporate hired-gun on a drop-in, was Stuart Smalley compared to this tool if the story plays out...

Salt Lake Tribune

Employee's suit: Company used waterboarding to motivate workers

A supervisor at a motivational coaching business in Provo is accused of waterboarding an employee in front of his sales team to demonstrate that they should work as hard on sales as the employee had worked to breathe.

In a lawsuit filed last month, former Prosper, Inc. salesman Chad Hudgens alleges his managers also allowed the supervisor to draw mustaches on employees' faces, take away their chairs and beat on their desks with a wooden paddle "because it resulted in increased revenues for the company...

The suit claims that Hudgens' team leader, Joshua Christopherson, asked for volunteers in May for "a new motivational exercise," which he did not describe. Hudgens, who was 26 at the time, volunteered in order to "prove his loyalty and determination," the suit claims.

The best part?

Prosper "provides executive-level coaching for individuals," according to its Web site. Personal coaches offer mentoring that focuses on business and finance.

"Our mission is to provide our students with the education and hands-on experiences they need to achieve their personal and professional goals," the Web site claims. "We strive to make the road to personal achievement meaningful, rewarding, and enjoyable."

Yeah, yeah. That's what the Khmer Rouge brochure said, too.