First, thanks for any objective help guys. Here is my dilemma. I have worked at a particular job coming on five years now. The top leader in our building retired about 8 months ago, thereby opening up upward mobiity that has been closed down for years. I am a lower level manager of about 7-8 staff on a daily basis. The position above mine is about to be open after a 6 year freeze. In fact, the position has only been open once in about a decade. It will effectively give me operational control of the day to day operations of the building and about 30 employees. For many reasons I cannot work with the current leader in our building.I will not get into the specifics but understand my perception comes from years of work in a tough environment, one where principals and integrity are tested all the time. Although the job above mine is open I have some deep seated reservations about applying. I do not want to be closer to the leader in our building than I have to at any given time. For years I have worked my tail off at my place of work. The outgoing leader of our building told me almost a year ago that I should apply for the job, he knew what was going to happen in terms of the hiring process. He also told me that he thought I would be running the building one day. My main problem is that I envision the new leader in our building to be working for the next decade. I cannot stand to think that I will work under him for ten more years. Another part of this dilemma is that I have applied for another job here recently, one that looks to be a better position for me, plus it looks like I will add anywhere between 10%-20% on top my current salary if I am hired. It is a highly competitive position and although it looks good, one never knows about the true potential to be hired. So in a nutshell, I do not know if I should apply for a better job in my organization because I do not mix well with the current head of our building. I have also applied recently for a job that will increase my salary. But if I do not apply for the job within my building and I do not get hired for the job I applied for outside of my building, then I am screwed. I cannot even see myself sitting in a job interview with the current head of our building because I will not suck up or gloss over the truth when I speak, just to get a job. I really appreciate any advice you all could give to me.
There are many situations in life that require tough decisions. This sounds like one of them. Although there are issues between you and the leader, unless he is the owner, you are a good person and should be able to deal with them. If he is not the owner, then as long as you do your job professionally and keep your integrity, the powers that be above him will see your worth. If you are unhappy in your present occupation, then by all means apply for the other job as well. You never know, you could be selected for both and then have to make the decision on which career path to take. Having two roads to choose from is far better than sitting on a dead end street. You, my friend have some serious soul searching to do and I know the choice you make will be the right one. Good luck brother.
Apply for the better job in your organization. If you do not get the outside job you applied for then you can get the inside job, even if you won't like your immediate superior. Once you get the promotion things may change with the immediate superior and, even if they don't, you can now start applying for another job outside your current organization. It would be better to apply for other jobs from your new position anyway. You can apply for higher graded jobs than previous because you are now a higher graded employee due to the promotion. You will have to tolerate your immediate supervisor while this is going on. Think of it this way. Taking the promotion, even though you can't stand your supervisor, will improve things for your family and, for me anyway, I can suffer a bit to better things for my family. You can always be searching for another job after you get the promotion but there won't always be a chance for this promotion.
Iowa, no he is not the owner, I work for the county government. Another part of this whole mix is that we are currently under a hiring freeze in our county going on the last two years. There is no end in sight. The other job I applied for will effectively give me 5 years of pay raises if I am hired. I would move down a notch in terms of not being a manager, but it would be a more specialized position. If I move up in my current job, it will be a big resume builder even if it is not really that much more difficult than my current position. But for some reason I have been like this my whole life and sometimes it just irritates the crud out of me, I cannot suck up to people and tell them what they want to hear if it is NOT the truth. Bruce, I hear you and I have considered that option. My immediate supervisor is not the problem even though he is incompetent, yet is paid extraordinarily well. The leader of our building sits 3 positions above my current position.
I've never been in a such a predicament as you but I will say this. Why let this guy ruin your chances at bettering your life? You work there for YOU not him! I understand its a lot easier to work with/for someone that you get a long with but at the end of the day you are there for you and your family. AND like the others, I'd go ahead and apply for that other position. Either way, good luck with your decision.
Regardless of the position of the guy you dislike I would still do the same things. You can still look for a new job elsewhere but you would be doing it from a better platform. Keep in mind too, that you may move on to a "better job" elsewhere but, once you are there, you could be working for worse people than you currently do. You won't know any truths bout a new employer until you are in there a while and you may just find yourself in a worse situation. Sometimes the devil you know.............................. Good luck with this.
I say don't let your disdain for the boss hold you back. What appears to be frozen hierarchy often changes at the drop of a hat. I would apply to both and see what happens.
Finch, I am not one to cut off my nose to spite my face, but I have certain limits as to what I can pretend to not know or tolerate. Bruce, I understand what you are saying about knowing who you are working for as compared to going in blind. If I were at a poker table I would have my boss figured out to a T, he is predictably poor. He is not much of a threat to me because I do not violate any policies or procedures and get great work out of my people. The only problem is between him and I, he thinks I am a threat to something....not really sure what, but he does. All I do is speak the truth when asked, and it is too much for people to take at my place of employment. I am just done with it. Champlain, thank you for your thoughts. I do not think even the current boss can hold me back from the job. Not being cocky here, but I wield a great bit of influence in our building due to the relationships I have built over the years with the key players, and I believe he understands that....maybe that is part of his problem, not sure.
I would apply for both, incase one falls through. You're gonna have to put up with that turd to a certain extent no matter what if you stay in that building and more money is always a good thing. I really like my current job and yet I still look daily for my next opportunity.
Fats, thank you. I really hope you guys don't think I am complaining about my boss, just to complain. It is not that he makes my life hell or anything, it is that I have a totally different mindset than him. I have a strong sense of pride and I do not deviate from my principals even in total chaos. I am asked to deviate all the time and when I offer resistance I get put to the burner. But once the flame lowers and the facts are presented they do not like to hear of their incompetence. I say it tactfully but I do not hold back when someone says, "well let me hear your take of the situation". By the time I am done people are squirming in their chairs. I do not like that they feel uncomfortable, but they do for a reason. They are incompetent.
At work, like you, when I am asked, I give the facts/truth and if asked my opinion I may give one that is not popular but it is one that I will stand behind. I have also been told that I "scare" people, whatever that means LOL. Also like you I have built some very formidable relationships at work with some very formidable people due to my integrity and my willingness not to be a yes man. With that said, there was a time, due to a favored co-worker, that I was in the "doghouse", a very comfortable and safe "doghouse" (due to my relationships) but the "doghouse" none the less. I continued being who I am to myself, my co-workers and my supervisors and, eventually this favored co-worker was exposed (no one listened to me when I was offering truths ) as the wasteful, useless POS that he was and I was back out of the doghouse. Now, I am much better off than before and all it took was patience. As Champlain Islander says, things can change and sometimes all we need to do is be patient and stay true to ourselves.
Apply for both, take the one that puts you and your family in the best position. I know it's hard to put up with people sometimes. May God grant you patience and understanding if you stay and work with this person. Maybe you can have the opposite effect on him.
I have often found that incompetent people actually like to have the same type people around them. They feel threatened by someone who works harder or is smarter than they are. On the other end of the spectrum...really good leaders know the power they have is in the excellence around them. Great leaders seek out great people and the poor leaders hide behind incompetence. The only way to becoming a great leader is to have both the confidence and drive to always put your best foot forward. When you are right you will seldom be shut down. The only other part of it is there are times to speak up and other times to allow something to pass.
Go with your Gut my friend. My current situation has me in a similar predicament. I recently passed on two jobs because of the managers over the groups. One I passed on is being filled by someone in a job I really want and will be applying for. The job will require travel but is a National Operations position that opens a lot more doors than the Regional or Center positions I passed on. The only reason it will be opening is that the person working it is tired of travel and not being with their Daughter and husband. In work you must find a balance, the last thing your family needs is you grumbling every night over the guy you don't want to work with. Fins the position the best suits you and will not cause you angst that you carry home with you.
Thank you all for yor advice. I am going to seriously consider my options here in the next few days. My application is out to the other job and I have some people working on my behalf to make sure the application is accepted. We shall see. I just do not want to wake up five years from now, basically having the same salary as my current job due to the payraise freeze, and be miserable because I am always fighting a logical fight against the sea of chaos at work. I would rather get the other job, get a significant payraise, work around more professional people, and sleep better at night.
Other things to consider; 1. How much time have you already put in with the county towards retirement? 2. How solid is the other place in today's market? 3. Benefits and perks at the other place versus what you already have (i.e. insurance, vacation, etc). My dad used to say that if you can't increase your pay by 40% you end up losing if you have any seniority where you're already at. Once again, I wish you the best.
When i worked in the same field as you, I hated it. The job its self was fun when you had good staff with you which was rare though. Incompetent managers/supervisors and even worse staff made the job unsafe. Nothing like running a wing of 12 Philly kids (up to 21yrs) with a 65yr old lady who occasionally pooped herself on the job.
Regardless of the amount of money or the position... If you like your job you will never work a day in your life! How you feel about what you do and who you do it with are worth more than the amount that you are paid.
