[lunchmoney]

I started the New Year at my job with news of a new boss, a former peer who many around were shocked to hear she got a promotion to management. I can remember only one other time in my career I honestly felt my direct manager was a complete idiot who was a liability to my income.

Has anyone else had this scenario arise, and how did you handle it?

[Sombro]

Big business or small business? Is the boss/manager also the owner?
I don't seek this out but I've always been able to leverage an owner's interest in keeping his business afloat against a manager's mismanagement (given that the owners give a fuck).
--
In different a corporate setting I eventually found myself sitting through meeting after meeting listening to lower-level managers spout their double-talk, only to be approached afterward by upper management personally asking me for the blunt truth, knowing i'd give it to him. (Subconscious Sigma move?)
Develop a relationship with your boss's boss without being a toady. If you share mutual concern about the company's well-being, your voice might (<50% of the time, admittedly) be heard.

Bone up on skills, knowledge, and develop leverage -- make yourself as indisposable as you possibly can.

[ShuaiGe]

Honestly, adapt or move on. Not trying to be a dick but these are really the only options you have, but you can get creative with how you adapt

[Waqqle]

It usually sucks to be directly under a female within a corporate/large-scale environment. It has gone well a couple of times in my life but almost always goes badly. There is a reason why even females usually prefer to have male bosses. That reason is office politics, which is made more chaotic by gossip and unaccountability.

Best thing to do is keep your head down and make yourself invisible and forgettable as much as possible. The longer you can go without them remembering your name or thinking about you, the better. While you do this, always be looking for your next job (you should be doing this anyway regardless of who your boss is) so that you are ready to transition smoothly into something else if you should lose the game of office politics and/or she, for any or no reason, decides that it's your turn to be sabotaged.

If she does attempt to sabotage you, I recommend going over her head and report the situation to the higher ups, and seek resolution from an outside party so that your professional reputation is not damaged.

[Forseti]

Hey Lunchmoney: I have experienced what you describe a couple of times in my career (and I suspect most people have had a similar experience as it is not uncommon for incompetent coworkers to be promoted based on longevity or nepotism or some criterion other than merit).

In the first instance, it was early in my career, my numbers were good but not fantastic, and I did not have any sort of stature or political capital in the organization. I started looking for a new job. In the meanwhile, some of my more senior colleagues who reported to the same woman aired their grievances publicly and privately to whomever would listen. She was removed from the managerial position a few months later -- problem solved.

In the second instance, several years later and at a different organization, I did what SOMBRO suggests above. Some arrogant dimwit became the head of my group. I had a great relationship with my boss's boss and when asked, I gave my honest evaluation. This individual had also annoyed a couple of key clients, so they were shuffled around the organization and eventually terminated. If you are in this particular situation, you might want to spend a few days to consider whether to approach your "boss's boss" before they solicit your input or to wait for them to ask your opinion. If you don't have the ability to approach or influence those in upper management, you might just need to put up with the BS for a bit and just focus on performing at the highest level possible (and perhaps look for a new job as well).

[the.king]

I think there are 3 ways to solve every problem

- Accept the problem and live with it
- Try to solve the problem
- Walk out

In my experience people never change. Its pointless. Either accept the problem, or walk out.

Its a cliche and may not be very helpful in your situation, but I think financial independence/self-employment is the only permanent solution from such situations.

[lunchmoney]

Thanks for the advice thus far. Some additional data points:
This is a large corporation, and I believe there is a push to promote women from the top. I'm not sexist in any way, and if she was qualified I dont think I would have a problem working for one. That said, She isn't.

I will obviously see how this plays out, however to everyone's point, I won't do anything that will rock the boat immediately, and will keep my eye out for new opportunities, with the long term goal of being financially independent/self-employed by 2021.

[the Thing]

1) What industry is this?

2) Do you have a skip-level manager (manager of your manager so 2 levels above you) who is qualified, or is every single person at the company complete dickheads like where I work?

3) In any case, read this and apply as best as you can

[RWIsrael]

It's always tough to report to and be subservient to someone you considered your peer, especially if you don't think very highly of that person (and a woman to boot!)

Were you expecting to be the one promoted and given a management position?

There's no easy answer - stick with it and take care of yourself until you find a better job, opportunity on a different team etc. Keep networking, be supportive of your new superior but not at the expense of your own goals, recognition etc.

If it works out and you can make money and advance without the situation becoming unbearable, that's fine, but you should already be testing the waters with other employers or managers on other teams.

[EvanWilson]

(01-08-2019 11:10 PM)ShuaiGe Wrote:  

Honestly, adapt or move on. Not trying to be a dick but these are really the only options you have, but you can get creative with how you adapt

I agree, adapt or move on are the only options. In my past experience, unless you have the ear of an owner or higher level person, you probably should just 'move on'. The fact that this new manager is a problem and was recently promoted is a good indication that they will listen to her over anything you might say or do and fighting this trend will just get you in trouble over time, and possibly even targeted for firing by her if she is that type of person.

I would bet that moving on will not only get you a better job, but one that even pays more plus you would be able to concentrate on servicing the customers of the business, and making yourself more valuable to the company and worth more pay, instead of trying to survive with a poor manager.

There is also the additional problem in your current company where if they promote poor managers it means the company has other longer term problems which you probably do NOT want to be there to have to deal with. In the extreme, these problems may kill the company at some point.

[EvanWilson]

(01-09-2019 03:46 AM)the.king Wrote:  

I think there are 3 ways to solve every problem

- Accept the problem and live with it
- Try to solve the problem
- Walk out

In my experience people never change. Its pointless. Either accept the problem, or walk out.

Its a cliche and may not be very helpful in your situation, but I think financial independence/self-employment is the only permanent solution from such situations.

I agree. The long term goal for all of us here should be financial independence/self-employment so eventually we never have to deal with problems like this.

In my experience the people that are trying to work for the good of the company and its customers usually get fired by the ones that can't do the work because they make them look bad. When you are self employed or have and financial independence you don't have to deal with such problems anymore, not that anyone should have to at all, especially when life is so short.

[EvanWilson]

(01-09-2019 03:46 AM)the.king Wrote:  

I think there are 3 ways to solve every problem

- Accept the problem and live with it
- Try to solve the problem
- Walk out

In my experience people never change. Its pointless. Either accept the problem, or walk out.

Its a cliche and may not be very helpful in your situation, but I think financial independence/self-employment is the only permanent solution from such situations.

I agree. The long term goal for all of us here should be financial independence/self-employment so eventually we never have to deal with problems like this.

In my experience the people that are trying to work for the good of the company and its customers usually get fired by the ones that can't do the work because they make them look bad. When you are self employed or have and financial independence you don't have to deal with such problems anymore, not that anyone should have to at all, especially when life is so short.

[the.king]

(01-10-2019 02:34 PM)EvanWilson Wrote:  

When you are self employed or have and financial independence you don't have to deal with such problems anymore, not that anyone should have to at all, especially when life is so short.

One of the biggest problems I had at after I was redpilled, was to actually give a fuck about my job(s) anymore.

I go to work everyday and I'm obsessed trying to setup my own business. The only things that motivate me anymore is pussy and making money.

At the same time I see people around me getting upset over unbelievably trivial shit. My manager 2 days ago asked me to remove an email address from the 'send to' field in an email, and use the 'cc' field instead. I see people voluntary enlisting in 5 hour seminars outside of work hours on subjects such as 'potential changes (currently discussed) in the future accounting treatment of a particular types of asset'.

If these people were shareholders in these companies I could understand to some extent but no they are wagecucks. Their fucking egos are so invested in their pathetic identities they cannot see their short lives passing over them.

[Design Engineer]

(01-08-2019 07:17 PM)lunchmoney Wrote:  

I started the New Year at my job with news of a new boss, a former peer who many around were shocked to hear she got a promotion to management. I can remember only one other time in my career I honestly felt my direct manager was a complete idiot who was a liability to my income.

Has anyone else had this scenario arise, and how did you handle it?

I don't know what your job is and what type of company you work for, but there is one creative way you could get out of this situation.

Contact HR and let them know you feel there is a conflict of interest being on your present team because you have strong feelings/attraction to your "boss".

A lot of companies (especially ones with a very traditional corporate culture) do have policies in place where they deal with this matter by moving you to a different team or department to avoid the conflict of interest. Rarely would they ever decide to fire you over such a matter (because remember it's really not your fault if you're sexually attracted to boss), especially if you're just doing fine in your current job.

Edit: You mentioned its a large corporation, this approach is very suitable for this then. Large corporations are always transferring and moving people around due to their size.