"Heartless Bitches On The Job"
Nov 7, 2005
I received some interesting responses to my last
bichitorial, and one prompted me to provide a bit of a follow-on.
In the kickboxing analogy I made, I was talking about taking the
initiative, taking *control*, to ensure that *you* are in control of your life - personal and
professional.
Some people seem to think that taking control, and going on
the "offensive" means being confrontational, and one reader expressed
concern about the risks of getting fired if one confronts one's boss. While
there certainly are times that direct confrontation is required on the job, (As
Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your
consent"), it isn't ALWAYS the case. There are ways to actively control
your environment and your career that don't involve uncomfortable
confrontations with superiors. Taking initiative is one such way.
My first real programming job was something I got through
networking. I was 21 years old, recently graduated from college during the
recession, and looking for anything that didn't involve retail sales. It was
supposed to be a temporary contract position to do nothing more than data
entry. It wasn't programming, but it
was an interesting work environment, decent pay, and it didn't involve dealing
with the general public.
My "offensive" maneuver was to figure out in just
one week, that the work I was doing was completely repetitive, and take action.
Though I had never used that kind of computer before, I taught myself the
command scripting language it supported. Within the week, I had written scripts
to do 90% of the work, and my actual time spent was less than 1/2 day. I was
supposed to be there for 2.5 days per week on this "part-time" job.
Instead of sitting there with my thumb up my ass, or reading
(we didn't have access to the ‘net, and the web didn't exist yet), I went
around asking my co-workers if there were any other jobs that needed doing that
I could help out on. As soon as they discovered I could program in Fortran
(Yes, I AM dating myself), I found myself with increasing amounts of
responsibility in maintaining and fixing old programs, and even writing some
new ones. In fact, they came to rely on me so much that my contract was
extended twice, and when a permanent position was opened, *I* was granted the
position ahead of a university-degreed digital engineer. I had made myself an
invaluable resource to the organization.
But there ARE times when direct confrontation is required.
This was a government organization, and some years later,
when I found myself stuck in a position grade that I found unacceptable, I did
the research necessary to find out that there were ways that I could get "acting"
pay at a higher level because I was actually doing work that was not part of my
standard job description. I was discussing this option with another computer
programmer, when the director of the organization came up and got angry at me. He made what I deemed to be rude and
belittling comments to me in front of my co-workers. At that point, I told him
he had NO idea the kind of work I did each day, and stormed off to cool down. I had never faced that in a job before, and
I left before he could see me burst into tears of anger and embarrassment.
I was determined to confront him later, in private, when I
was calmer and more able to speak without popping a vein.
I decided I would go out the back door, take a walk, and
regain my composure.
Unfortunately, he was stalking the halls of the institution
looking for me. He insisted I come to his office to talk. I finally conceded,
even though I felt I was not yet calm enough…. It resulted in a REAL confrontation.
He was adamant that HE was going to take care of things for me. I told him that
if I had sat around waiting for their patronizing pats on the head as far as my
career went, I'd still be classified as a data entry clerk - that the only way
I had progressed financially up the pay grades was because I did
the work and pushed for it every step of the way. He stammered and told me he
was going to put in a request for a "double increment" for me that
year. As if that was supposed to placate me. That's a one-time bonus. I explained how much MORE money, per
paycheque, I would make with the strategy I had discovered, and in addition,
there was a proviso that anyone in an "acting" role HAD to be granted
that position level if the work extended beyond 2 years. I had been acting in
that role for almost 2 years. So not only would I
get the position and accompanying pay increase, I would get
retroactive pay. He was stunned. He told me he had no idea that the approach I
was about to take was possible. I got
the retroactive pay, and the acting position. And later that year, on the
anniversary of my employment, not only did I get moved to the position
permanently, I received a double-increment bonus on my pay. Sometimes even the snarkiest of managers can
feel guilty.
One thing I learned about managers like that - the ones that
will belittle someone in public, is that you DON'T take them on in public. You
book time to see them PRIVATELY.
Bullies will NEVER back down in public.
I can recall at least 3 instances in my career where I have
had that kind of confrontation, and at the end of it, each situation resulted
in that person NEVER disrespecting me in public again. (And no, there are no warrants out for my
arrest. *grin*)
On the proactive side...
Years later, I worked at one company where I was sent on
training and to conferences, while my peers whined that they never got
anything. They muttered about favoritism.
I said to them, "did you ask?"... apparently not. Some people
seemed to think that managers would just magically walk up and hand them
training opportunities. I always asked for what I wanted. I made sure I did
the homework, had the costs, dates, and times identified, and what benefit I
could bring to the organization by going. I never got turned down.
In one case, the conference was nothing to do with our
current product, or industry, but I really wanted to go, because I had a sense
that the technology would change the world. It was a Web World conference, and
the year was 1995. Though I had only been with the company 6 months (as opposed to the 10 year tenures of some of
my colleagues), I did some networking inside the company, and got a visionary
director in another department to fund my trip, if my manager would give me the
time... It worked. When I came back, I booked a meeting with the CEO and that
meeting resulted in a change to the strategic direction of the company... It
also resulted in establishing enormous credibility and visibility within the
organization. When the CEO announced via corporate-wide email the new
direction, and named me as a project "visionary", I turned to a
co-worker and said, "Does that mean I have Job Security?" and winked.
He replied, "Hoo yeah! BIGTIME."
Later that year, my VP was quoted as saying, "I don't
always like what Natalie has to say, but I have to listen to her."
Now THAT'S Being In Total Control, Honey!
heartlessly,
-Natalie
