it’s always surprising, yet so true that people can rise to the level of their incompetency. they rocked it as a “insert their talent or level” so someone moved them to where they can’t succeed. or they were moved with no preparation, training, mentoring, for the change in role. worse yet–your boss wanted to be in the more important role to prove how important s/he really is to everyone around them. mostly because s/he is unsure how important s/he is internally.
that’s where the family dynamics become business dynamics. and they get swept under the rug. swept under the rug but the dynamics show up on everyone’s performance review. even if you think you’ve documented the hell out of everything. there’s no hiding from them. and it’s difficult to be prepared for the crazy swirl.
when i started this blog a few years ago i worked for someone who was in a role that was far too senior for her. it also was in an industry which she had no experience. ecommerce tools that she’d never seen previously. the list is pretty long. i was sitting with a wonderful young and incredibly sharp analyst who said, “you know, work just shouldn’t suck”. so succinct. so astute.
how many years has worked sucked for you? for me work has sucked off and on for 20-26 years or so. almost always due to who i reported, or who was in the management chain. very rarely was it the people around me or my customers or the products. not even the hours. sometimes it was the shoes. when i worked at McDonald’s it definitely was the polyester uniform. ugh.
oh the manager’s i’ve had to work for/with/under. as my current boss calls me “poker face”, i can’t hide how i feel, every manager knew when i didn’t respect them. not respecting my manager was the fast track to despising them. it started out not trusting their decision making skills. then not trusting their judgement. then not respecting them. onto not liking them. quickly coming to the slippery slope of intense feelings of “oh god. i gotta get out of here”.
before i move on, i want to thank a few managers who knew how to “manage” me. john callan, spike lemle, mike (from the olive garden), my current boss eric mueller, and sadly i can’t seem to bring up other names. in all of those years, that’s all i got. (yes, i know that’s bad english)
these were people who gave brought goals, said meet them, then stepped back. i was at their door when i needed them, got lonely, checked in and delivered. over delivered really. funny that. leave the obnoxious jewish girl to her own devices and she’ll over deliver. someone should bottle it.
