‘NCIS’: Can Gibbs Ever Rebuild Trust?
The NCIS team will have to learn how to manage without Gibbs (Mark Harmon). He made a split-second decision that caused chaos and could have put his employees’ jobs at risk. Can they ever trust him again or is the Gibbs they knew gone forever?
Gibbs and Vance aren’t on good terms
Gibbs is acting like everything is fine and he’s OK, but it’s becoming clear he’s troubled by the recent deaths of Emily Fornell and Breena Palmer. He’s also adjusting to not having Jack around the office. In an unexpected turn of events, Gibbs avoids going to jail after beating up a suspect.
Leon visits Gibbs to talk about what happened. He requests a formal apology, but Gibbs refuses to do that. Leon is disappointed that Gibbs won’t cooperate. It’s obvious neither he nor Coyle wants Gibbs to be in jail.
Leon hoped Gibbs would agree to a formal apology after the big break he got. Since that doesn’t happen, Leon has no choice but to follow through with a suspension. Gibbs could have avoided the suspension if he agreed to the apology, but he wouldn’t budge.
A lot of strings were pulled for Gibbs. In Leon’s eyes, he seems ungrateful. How can Gibbs regain Leon’s trust and make up for his misstep?
What Gibbs should do so he can get back to his job at NCIS
Grant Aldrich offered up his expertise as a small business owner. The founder and CEO of Online Degree says an explanation for ignoring your supervisor’s instructions is a must. It’s not a good idea to just do what you please and refuse to explain why.
“If you go against your boss, make sure you’re ready with an explanation for why you did so,” says Aldrich. “Often, it’s not what we say but how we say it. If you stay respectful and polite it can help smooth over the disagreement.”
Gibbs wasn’t sorry and he wasn’t about to explain himself, so it’s possible his suspension could become a termination. Defying your boss can lead to all kinds of problems. It could not only result in the loss of trust but also put you at risk of losing your job. It’s tough to tell what Leon is going to do.
“Going against your boss can be a quick way to lose their trust and put your job in jeopardy,” says Aldrich.
In Gibbs’ case, he knew what he should have done, he just didn’t do it. It’s likely he wasn’t thinking clearly because of everything that happened to him over the last couple of weeks (and years). It was mentioned at the beginning of the episode that he was told to take some time off so he could regroup after Emily’s death, but he chose to come to work. This turned out to be the wrong choice, as we see later in the episode.
It would be in Gibbs’ best interest to reconsider that apology. He should also book an appointment with Dr. Grace so he can work through the trauma he experienced. Good luck, Gibbs.
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