Death by micromanagement
Today’s reading:
Can Your Boss Micromanage You to Death?
Let me introduce you to some folks. 😉
Best graf from this:
“It’s difficult not to become bitter in this type of situation. The problems don’t go away. Your performance level may drop, causing your boss to become even more unpleasant and more demanding and more prone to micro-managing.”
My response to that:
“That exact thing happened to me. I got tired of tap-dancing around the bullets aimed at my feet and just decided to try to go with the flow. Oh boy did that backfire. Never, ever walk away feeling like things would have turned out differently, if only you would have retained your own backbone/integrity/ethic.”
In other words, if you don’t trust me then fine, show me why I need to have your thumb on my forehead. I’m very in favor of having a mentor. I am always open to that. But every idea I come up with CANNOT be for shit. And if I do work into the night, why the hell CAN’T I stroll in around noon the next day? I quit working at night because I figured, well, I have to be in for crack o’dawn meetings and I’m expected to be awake for those. Might as well rest up.
And yes, I blame myself for thinking I could do it all with a smile. I have just seen people damn near executed for standing their ground on what’s right for them.
I always figure, pander for a year or so and then show them your track record. Of course, most of them figure that their micromanaging ways are what caused any success to which you can lay claim; ergo it must continue into perpetuity. But every once in a while, you run into someone reasonable who figures that you MUST have a brain in your head (they hired you, after all) and hop to it, little bunny. Do it your way.
And that’s why we hang in there … sometimes too long … but in the ONE OUT OF FIVE TIMES it has happened, it was oh so worth it.