More bad boss blues
Dear Bob ... I've been thinking about what it takes to succeed as a leader. Besides competence and compassion, a third criterion has emerged in my organization: rapport with the big boss. A manager's star rises and falls according his standing with our temperamental department head. During our last big reorg, two middle managers and one supervisor -- my boss -- were demoted to do-nothing staff jobs. Two former s
Follow @ITCatalystsDear Bob ...
I've been thinking about what it takes to succeed as a leader. Besides competence and compassion, a third criterion has emerged in my organization: rapport with the big boss. A manager's star rises and falls according his standing with our temperamental department head.
During our last big reorg, two middle managers and one supervisor -- my boss -- were demoted to do-nothing staff jobs. Two former supervisors were brought back from staff jobs to be supervisors again. That's not even counting three other supervisors who have found jobs in other departments as refugees over the years. These are all people who can stand on their own two feet, not merely cronies left over from the previous administration.
I think my department head is running out of people who can stand her.
Or people she can stand. Talk about "human engineering" being a factor. I think she's in over her head in this job, and desperately insecure. And temperamental.
As a lowly individual contributer -- ManagementSpeak for "somebody who does work" -- how would you deal with her? I have two layers of management between us, so I rarely have to deal with her directly. It's more a question of dealing with peers and bosses who bring up this subject.
My new direct boss, by the way, is a sweetheart. She sounded me out by confiding that she's always a little afraid whenever she gets called into the department manager's office.
