Unhappy Passover

Dear Bob …

I’m a Network Administrator for a moderately sized company. The last few years has seen increased levels in tension between my boss and myself over different paths to reach objectives. This has essentially escalated into a personality conflict. However, he’s good at what he does and I’m good at what I do, so we’ve persevered. The one quality we do share is that we’re both consistent at “thinking outside the box” to accomplish creative problems. It’s been because of this attitude and forward thinking that’s given our company a competitive edge in our field. We’re cutting edge here.

Recently, a larger organization bought us. He got promoted up the chain, but as his parting gift to me, he promoted my assistant (to the surprise of other managers) to his former position. The situation now is that she is my boss. I don’t have a problem with her, but she is unqualified for the position (in my opinion). I won’t go into why I feel she isn’t qualified for the position other than to mention that I worked with her at another company before and when he was making a decision on hiring and asked my input (since it was my assistant), I asked him not to hire her because I felt she wasn’t qualified enough for the position. Personality wise, they are a dead match, which I firmly believe affected his decision. After working with her for a couple of years, I still hold my original opinion. So here we are with a new management team that doesn’t know any of us. I feel like the organization is taking backward steps because she doesn’t know the technology enough to converse about it (when asked recently are we compliant with HIPPA, she didn’t even know what it was) with the new management team. Since my suggestions have to go up funneled through her, I’m hesitant to make her look good when I feel I got a slap. I feel if I go to anyone to mention my concerns, it’ll look like I’m being bitter and trying to cause trouble.

Any suggestions?

– Passed over

Dear Passed (did I get the vowel right?) …

At the risk of sounding unsympathetic, what part of “your career in this company is over” didn’t you understand?

Was it the part where your former manager, explaining his bizarre decision, presented the various reasons you’re the wrong person for the job while your subordinate is worthy of the opportunity? Or was it the public humiliation?

Look, I actually am quite sympathetic. My sympathy, though, has no market value. Your experience and abilities, on the other hand, would appear to have more value in the external marketplace than inside your current company. In your situation, your best recourse is to polish your resume and start looking for a better place to work.

If you’re determined to give your current company a chance before taking this step, make an appointment up the chain from your former subordinate/new boss and have a candid conversation about what opportunities you’re likely to find in the new organization. Ask the question this way, more or less: “You just promoted my assistant to be my new boss, so I don’t see where I can go within IT except back to my cubicle. I like this company and would prefer to stay here. To do so, I need to have some sense that I have career opportunities. I think you can understand why talking to my former assistant isn’t going to be a productive discussion, which is why I’m here – I’d like your thoughts on the subject.”

I don’t necessarily recommend this course of action. The risk … that the company will quietly find your replacement and then show you the door, putting it in control of the timetable, are much greater than the likelihood of success. So before you undertake it, understand that the main reason for doing so is to satisfy a personal itch, not to maximize your own best interests.

– Bob

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