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>John Posada replied:
>>You've expressed your feelings to both New Marketing Guy (NMG) and
>>CEO. As an employee, your job is to do your job as best you can.
>>Nothing is gong to change things right now. Do your job
>>professionaly, give whatever assistance you can, and if it goes
>>right, you will look good for donig your part in making everyone look
>>good
>
>John's right, of course: but I would take seriously your feelings that your
>skills are not being respected.
>I think we (women) are too apt to be helpful and make other people look
>good, and tend not to take the credit we deserve.
While what you say is broadly true, I don't think it's
necessarily a gender issue.
Anybody who gives good faith efforts to an organization expects
that their loyalty will be reciprocated by support and trust from
those they work with. Unfortunately, too many people - especially
those high up in the pecking order - don't consider loyalty a two
way street. They're only too happy to take advantage of someone
else's loyalty without returning anything. When this attitude
becomes obvious, it's natural for anybody to feel betrayed, and
to conclude that his or her loyalty has been misplaced.
In these situations, the path of least resistance is to make some
sort of accomodation and ignore the feeling of betrayal. Not just
women, but all employees and subordinates are encouraged to do
so. This behaviour is generally called realistic and mature.
However, I often wonder if it is realistic so much as convenient
for the power structure. For the people called upon to make the
accomodations, the behaviour often causes repressed resentments
that have a way of oozing out in politicking and bad tempers.
Sometimes, of course, the situation has to be temporarily
endured, but perhaps there would be less viciousness in the work
place if people didn't make accomodations.
No doubt my comments are influenced by the fact that I'm an
experienced contractor. I know that I can walk out of one job and
find another in a month - within two weeks, in fact, if I exert
myself. All the same, if people were more often held accountable
for their lack of loyalty (especially to subordinates), then
maybe they would behave better.
--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com | Tel: 604.421.7189
"I am worn down and reduced to essentials; the excess of spirit
that once allowed for charm and civility and tolerance in the
face of the tedious baggage of my fellow men is all used up in
me."
- Steven Brust and Emma Bull, "Freedom and Necessity"
