A victim of poisonous politics

Hired, then fired along with the manager who brought him in.

Dear Bob ...

A few months back I landed in the world of government after a number of years in private industries.

Then, my boss was unceremoniously fired one day, without any warning, along with the IT-admin supervisor (who reported directly to him and filed a federal discrimination lawsuit).

A new trio has been brought in to replace us (my boss, my colleague and yours truly) on an "interim" basis. After about a week of being humiliated, disrepected, and on the receiving end of numerous innuendos I resigned, to avoid the ugly scene and the stress.

They fired/laid off another colleague a week later, and "retired" a team lead for appearance's sake.

The question is: What, when, where, how can we do, if anything, about situations like this?

- Didn't last long

Dear Short-timer ...

It appears you found out what you can do about it -- nothing. Not all executives are open to ideas, insights or suggestions from those who do actual work; not all executives have any interest in rocking the boat by trying something new and different.

Many are politicians who got where they are by being good at personal elevation, not at accomplishment.

That's the case both in government agencies and in private industry.

This question comes up in Advice Line all the time in different forms and guises. My answer is always the same: Unless you have personal influence over the offending manager or executive, your decision is whether to find a way to live with the situation or leave.

Before you are "leaved." Which brings up one last point, not covered so much here: Beware of guilt by association. If you are loyal to a manager who is widely regarded with suspicion by the organization's higher-ups, you're in danger of following that manager out the door if senior management decides it's time to make a change.

So no matter how much you like, admire and respect someone you work for, be careful about how closely you allow yourself to be associated with him or her. You want to be perceived as a loyal employee yourself, and one who follows his/her manager's lead.

You don't want to be perceived as a potential troublemaker should the manager you like so much depart.

- Bob