20 Questions for Academics

Since our relaunch last fall, the Finishing School has enjoyed broadening our student body beyond the gray fabric walls of the cubicle.  Just when we think we know what we are experts on, you remind me that the workplace is not, in fact, universal.
Some of our contributing faculty are, in real-life, faculty.  Miss Bender sighs wistfully at them from across the staff room, wondering if she made a wrong turn at Albuquerque.  (Waltham, it actually was).

Listen in on the first of what we hope will be many “So You Want to Be A….” installments.  As long as the market is down, why not shop around?  (And make our Miss Bender feel less like she begged for private therapy?)

Meet Cathie and Robin,  colleagues at “a comprehensive regional university offering a rich, student-focused learning environment with an enrollment of approximately 4,300 undergraduate and more than 2,000 graduate students.”  We cornered them and their chosen professions for a round of 20 Questions, then we made it look like they were together.  That’s how we do in Virtual Academia – but we don’t lie to you about it.

CB:  How long have you been in your current field?
Cathie: It depends on what you mean by my current field.
Robin: About 10 years as an English professor.
Cathie:  I have been at my current employer for 13 years and then was in graduate school, preparing for my current field, for 5 years before that.

CB:  Have you ever worked in the “traditional office” environment so familiar to Miss Bender – the corporate cubicle, 9-5, and all that comes with that?
Robin: Not really. Though I have had regular jobs since I was 15, never very cubicle-oriented.
Cathie: I worked as a software developer/manager for 5 years and then as a grant writer for 2 years.

CB:  Anything you miss about it?
Cathie: Not really. I loved the problem-solving aspect of developing software and the feeling of accomplishment that I got when I finished some task. But that doesn't really have anything to do with a cubicle environment.  I sometimes miss software development but I do some for myself now. But I don't always have projects in mind to work on and other responsibilities often get in the way of focusing on a software project.

CB: Are there aspects of that environment that would benefit Academe?
Cathie: The sense of having to get things done on more than an individual level. In academia, we can be pretty slow to change things that need to be changed.

Robin:  I think it's good to appreciate and try different kinds of work, so you can be sure you end up doing something suitable to you.

CB: Most of our contributors work in those sorts of office cultures, and may think the grass is greener on the other side of your fence. Is it?
Robin: Well, yes.
CB:  Ok, maybe I mean me.
Cathie: I love the flexibility of my side of the fence although I think I work harder mentally now than I ever did on the other side. And it's sometimes difficult to do things and not see immediate tangible results. That happens a lot with education, because students don't always see the benefit of what we do immediately. But it is very satisfying when they come back after graduation to talk about how important what we've taught them was.

CB:  I have to admit I often draw on that from my own tour of academia – I remember that sometimes you don’t see the results for years.  Sometimes you never do, but it doesn’t mean there weren’t results.

CB: I think there are certain aspects of the campus culture that The Suits never understand if they haven’t lived it.  I remember that when I was in student affairs, I would tell stories about my students’ problems, or issues we were dealing with, like “cultural sensitivity” or administrative politics, and my corporate friends would answer with “you can’t just fire them?”
Cathie: I think outsiders (including the students) don't understand how much time we think about and talk about individual students, trying to figure them out, trying to figure out how to present information to them in a way that they can succeed, that will motivate them. I know a lot about my colleagues' students even when I don't personally know the students themselves because we talk about them all the time. So it's very surprising to me when I ask an advisee what the name of their math professor is and they don't know. We definitely think about them more than they think about us.

Robin:  I think it's true that we have more time off than in other fields. But on the other hand, there is actually NO time off. Like zero. I have gone to weddings with bags of papers to grade. I have been on vacation with piles of books that I had to read (even if I detested them). I have spent most evenings at home working on student papers, and most summers madly catching up with my own scholarship. We have a lot of autonomy and a lot of flexibility, and yes, even a lot of free time. But in other ways, we never, ever enjoy the feeling of having nothing work-related to do.

CB: Did you have any idea how immersive it was going to be? What kind of fantasy about your profession did you have going in, that your reality has disproven?
Robin:  That there would be time to sit around with other smart people and ruminate. Not much ruminating amongst the busy-work. Students and faculty alike are pretty maxed out at my university in terms of workload and time, so there isn't a lot of sherry-drinking, pipe-smoking, and pondering.
Cathie: [I thought] I would work less than when I was in software development or grant writing. That I would have summers "off".

CB:  Do you ever think about leaving the field for “the big money”? What keeps you from doing it?
Robin: Sure I do. I can't do anything that qualifies me for big money. [Ha ha] Mainly, I love my job.

CB: I often say I should have learned a practical trade.
Cathie:  I was making the "big money" as a software developer and it didn't make me happy. I make a decent living now--I don't need more money.

CB:  What does it mean to know you have a “job for life.”
Cathie: This is a difficult one for me because in every job that I've had, I never really thought I would lose it except through layoffs. We in the education field, even with tenure, are not immune to layoffs. The university could close completely or shut down my department and tenure would not help me keep my job. Even before I had tenure, I felt that I would not lose my job (even when I spoke my mind) unless something drastic happened.
Robin:  I prefer to think that I only have my job as long as I am good at it. The other way of thinking is a slippery slope to hell.

CB:  How do you keep it fresh and interesting?
Robin: Well, the students help with that, since they turn over every year, and they truly are unique from person to person and from generation to generation. Also, I like to stay current with scholarship, since all fields are constantly evolving. I think if you do this job well, you really wouldn't have the same year twice.
Cathie: My previous discipline, computer science, is constantly changing and so I was always doing something new, not always by choice. I have recently changed disciplines, to digital media studies, and so I'm still learning, still becoming acclimated to the new field.

CB:  When you counsel students entering your field, what advice do you offer?
Cathie: Be passionate about being creative and hardworking. If you like to work hard and think hard about ideas, you could do well. But with the field as tight as it is these days, if you aren't self-motivated and diligent, you probably won't make it.  Also, you really have to love teaching and sharing ideas. Really. Love. It. Teaching isn't what you do to support your scholarship; that kind of thinking would lead to misery. For most of us in the Humanities, teaching is what you do a lot of the time, and you have to want to be there, and think of it as an asset to your own scholarly development.
Robin: Communication and media studies (my new discipline) is valuable no matter what they decide to do when they graduate. So I suggest that they try to create a curriculum for themselves that will expose them to the things they think they are interested in. And I suggest they do an internship (at least one--some of them do several).

CB:  The rest of the world is jealous of Sabbatical. Why do you think this hasn’t caught on in the rest of the work world?
Robin: Maybe they aren't as smart as us. But seriously, folks. ..

Cathie: Great question.   
Robin: Sabbatical is something I always thought of as an enormous privilege-- maybe even an elitist privilege... But now that I have had one, I realize that it would be good for just about anyone in any field, and would probably yield greater productivity, retention, etc. for most employers. Could even be cost-effective in the long run. Someone should do a study. But not me. I am still on sabbatical.
Cathie: It is so valuable for rejuvenating people and helping them become more productive when they come back from sabbatical. I think, however, that most people think sabbatical means you don't do any work. That's not true. Instead, it is a time when, freed from the normal teaching and service duties, a person has time to work on some sustained project, usually scholarly in nature.

CB: Is that why it has survived in academia?
Cathie: Yes, because good work comes out of them.
Robin:  Sabbaticals actually work-- they produce good scholarship, better teaching, prestige (and admissions) for the universities. But I wouldn't be surprised if they start abating as the economy declines and the right wing gets more snippy about the intellectual elitism (or intellectual growth) of the country. I know tenure is under fire now; I am sure sabbaticals will be on the firing line soon.

CB:  Describe a good day on the job.  I’ll close my eyes….
Robin: A balance of collegial discussion about pedagogy, teaching a class on a stimulating topic, working on my own research, and leaving with enough time left to spend social time with family and friends.
Cathie: A good day is when I have a class planned that I'm excited about and it works--the students understand and are excited about the material. A good day is when I have no committee meetings but can find some time to do a bit of scholarship, some task on whatever current project I'm working on.

CB:  Now be fair – describe a bad day
Robin: Rushing. Being unprepared for class. No time to get to my own work. 50 student papers to grade by the next day. Rushing home for fast dinner, then grading all night while my daughter plays alone with her stuffed animals. Oh, and also, a student walks out of my Feminism class because he says I make him want to throw up.
Cathie: Classes don't go well for whatever reason. Many committee meetings on committees whose work is vague, unclear and unproductive. And I have lots of grading so I spend my free moments doing that rather than something I like.

CB: When you imagine yourself in a completely different professional field, what do you think is most likely?
Cathie: I would be a star on Broadway. Just kidding. Software development again. I gotz skills.
Robin: Gynecologist.

CB: When do these kind of thoughts occur to you?
Robin: When I occasionally feel that my work is too abstract, I wish I were involved in a more grassroots career, that would have a clearer and more immediate impact on the quality of life for people who have been disenfranchised.
Cathie: They don't actually. I'm very happy in academia, even on the bad days.


CB:  Another question that is probably more about me…. Do your parents still send you clippings and classifieds, under the impression that you are “still looking?”
Cathie:  No--they don't really understand what I do but they didn't when I was a software developer either.
Robin:  No, they finally stopped. But they are fond of telling people that their daughter "is a doctor, but not a real one." Shoot. Is this why I just answered that I wish I were a real doctor? Ugh.

CB:  Care to share a favorite fantasy about a personal win in your profession?
Cathie: Interesting question. I guess I have two. One is that there is an issue before the faculty that I feel strongly about. I stand up in a faculty meeting and, using my powers of persuasion, I convince the hostile crowd of the wisdom of my opinion. The second is that I write an academic book that captures popular attention. Appearances on Diane Rehm and Charlie Rose follow.
Robin: I have realized that more accolades lead to more responsibility which ironically leads to increased criticism. Also true: success --> failure.

CB: Is that the name of your still-to-be-written memoirs?
Robin: Memoirs. (Ha ha ha) And no, THAT is not the title.
Cathie: How do you know they are still-to-be-written?

CB:  There were only 19 questions – does that bother you?
Robin: The fact that you are a liar is, I will admit, irksome.
Cathie: No, but only because you've asked this question which makes it 20.

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Corporate Identify is more than a logo

A

Instructor, Mitch McDeere
 
Aquirion* is a global industry leader experiencing growth and revenue in an otherwise collapsing economy.  Stock prices are rising, media coverage is positive, customer loyalty is high.  The company job board is bursting, with openings in several high-tech economy states where plenty of candidates are immediately available, thanks to rampant lay-offs of experienced talent.

The Company has briefcases full of cash, with which to buy the small struggling companies who have perforated their own space so raggedly that none of them owns the "wallet share."  Aquirion can make the offer their boards of directors can not refuse, and every day the Aquirion family grows.

 New arrivals on the Company shores receive their welcome packets and fleece vests in the new company colors.  They unpack at their new desks  -- some parts improvement and some parts disappointment -- and try to pick up their projects where they left off last week.  They have high hopes for life on the Gold Mountain, but of course they never forget The Old Country.

At its worst, the Company never breaks out of its camp mentality.  Typically, corporate uniformity will take over as the workforce ages and the hard-liners are weeded out.  But the Finishing School understands that Aquirion and its like strive to be greater than the sums of  their parts, so we offer some recommendations for both management and staff.  We invite our students and readers to continue this dialogue with their comments and strengthen the Aquirions among us.


Less is more with the new logo
No one wants their history "disappeared." Especially when it is a history they helped create.  The new colors, name, and logo are an important part of forming your new identity, but try not to wipe old identities off the map.  One big ticket item is enough -- the jacket, the laptop bag, the coffee cups on every desk.  But just one.

Celebrate your heritage
Why not use some of your corporate art space  to frame the old logos, mascots, colors, ad campaigns?  Encourage member companies to display their awards, patents, and founders' portraits. Something about these members of the family was worth paying for.  Let everyone know.

Allow room for adjustment
This is especially difficult when competitors are suddenly bed-fellows.  In corporate life, we put a lot of energy into defining the enemy as the worst thing that could ever happen to our customers and our industry .  Be patient while your staff try to unlearn that lesson.


Encourage mingling
Pigeonholing isn't caused by hostility, but it can breed it.  Look for cross-functional workteam opportunities for member companies to share talent.  An internal apprenticeship program might be a start. Try a Think Tank, consolidated trade show team, interview teams, or R&D projects.  Dream outside the "staff council" and "softball team" box, though those work too.

Participate
This means you, acquired staff.  When your company puts out the call for representational participation, get in there and mix it up!

Orient new staff to a new company, made up of the rich diversity of its member companies.  Teach the history of your new company as part of New Hire indoctrination. 

Be open-minded.  Not all mergers go swimmingly.  Some have been infamous disasters; others came out stronger than they began.  What those stories have in common are setting a tone from the outset that all member companies have value and that decisions will be made by, and for, all stakeholders.

ODCT, Organization Development Consulting and Training, of Seattle, WA, offers some Best Practices for achieving "[an] outcome in which there is a high degree of internal commitment to and collaboration in the newly merged organization."  Most importantly, they address the tension that will come in any situation where people feel they are giving up control of their personal and business success.

Aquirion can not simply declare a "new chapter" and declare that the past is behind us.  They will always be The Other if they choose that route, rather than the profitable umbrella they intend to be.

*Aquirion represents a typical parent company, based on the varied professional experiences of our faculty.  Any similarity to a specific company is the result of the mega-merger conglomeration of global business.

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Ask A Manager: Asking for a raise

Dick Whitman, Manager in Residence

Dear Manager,
What was the most compelling request for a raise you have heard?

I think the most compelling request came from a guy who was brought into my company in an acquisition. His prior role in the smaller company was relatively contained and specific. Shortly after my company came onto the scene, a few key players from his very small group left abruptly and unexpectedly. We were left in a very bad spot in that we had so few people left who knew anything about this operation that was so new to us.

This guy – let’s call him “Bob” -- saw an opportunity to help the company while helping himself, and he volunteered to step up into a much bigger role that had been left without an owner. Bob told me where he saw the need for the business, and explained to me why he felt that he was the right guy to take on the role. In the process, he described some new ways that he would like to approach the job. Given the fact that I was in a bind and had very little to work with, it was an easy sell.

All of this was done before anyone mentioned money. Bob’s actions were far louder than any words he could have spoken. It was only after we had figured out the new structure that he said to me, with great candor and sincerity, “I want this business to succeed. I am happy to have this opportunity and I intend to make it work. I have seen the potential for years and I have wanted to play a bigger part in it. All I ask is that you look at my pay in relation to my job and consider whether it is appropriate.”

The combination of Bob’s words and actions made me fight as hard as I could to improve his compensation. I was able to give him a very healthy raise that put him more in line with his value to the organization, and to me.

The key here from a manager’s standpoint is that the increase in pay needs to be tied to the value of the work, and that this evaluation is most effective when it is done objectively. In other words, managers want to know that you have the business’ best interests in mind and that you are asking for a fair shake based on your contributions.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had employees ask for a raise because “they need one”. In my younger years I tried this once (and failed) myself, so you should know that I am not playing the holy card here. You just don’t want to be arguing for a raise because you want to start a family or because your kid needs braces, or because your in-laws are moving in and you need to buy a bigger house. These motivators might be the force that brings you to the table for the discussion, but they cannot enter into the justification for higher pay from the company, particularly when budgets are tight.

Remember, unless you work directly for the CEO, or maybe the Corporate Controller, your manager most likely will not be able to make an off-cycle raise happen for you without going up the chain and fighting for it in turn. Picture your manager telling the VP or Finance department that Nancy needs a raise because she has a wedding to pay for. Doesn’t work.

You also don’t want to be demanding anything. These are sensitive talks, and there is an inherent risk that your manager will be put on the defensive when asked. A manager can feel like he is faced with the problem of an important employee at risk of leaving -- or at least at risk of being unhappy, maybe spreading some bad cheer along the way -- and he is also being asked to do something that is not entirely under his control. As an employee, if you can help your manager understand the business rationale, you are then partnering with him to come to a solution together.

So my advice is to first show your value by going the extra mile, helping out, and working above the expectations of your job. After that, to do an honest assessment of where you stand in the market based upon the job that you do. If you feel like you have a clear case of undercompensation, then the tone of the discussion that works best, in my opinion, is something like this, “I like it here. I don’t want to think about leaving. Based on the information I have, and from my perspective, I believe that my compensation is out of line with the value that I bring. I am asking that you evaluate this and let me know if you agree. If you do, I am asking you to help correct this. If not, I’d like some help understanding why.”

-------
What's your opinion? Any positive/negative experiences asking for a raise? Does gender make a difference here? If you think it does, is it because we make it an issue or does management make it an issue? Tell us in the comments!
-Miss Minchin, Dean of Students

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Ask a Manager: Managing through a layoff

Guest Lecturer, Dick Whitman, Manager in Residence

Dear Manager:    What is Management going through during a layoff?

“Hell of a thing, killin’ a man. You take away all he’s got…and all he’s ever gonna have”

-- Unforgiven

It's a line from one of my favorite movies,  where a young guy seeks out the notorious killer William Munny to join him in a job of killing some bad guys for pay. Well ole’ Will is not quite what the kid had pictured. After these two finally get around to killing the bad guy, the kid is very shaken, as it wasn’t the tough-guy adventure he had been expecting. It was ugly and it made him sick.

The kid, as a newcomer to this world of violence, turned to the ever-stoic Clint Eastwood at this point. Clint’s looking sadly off into the distance, and he says in his usual whispery cadence “Hell of a thing killin a man...."

When you fire someone, or lay them off, or perform a reduction in force, or my personal favorite, “right-size” someone, you certainly aren’t killing them. You aren’t even taking away everything they have. But you are taking a hell of a lot.
 
It’s not just the person’s job. It is his or her money and security. It is often the person’s sense of self, belonging, and maybe even sense of self worth and pride. You take that away and it’s going to have impact. This is not lost on the manager who is doing the deed. Not on this one anyway. It doesn’t matter how many times you go through it.


It is not simply the act of terminating someone’s employment that is at issue here.

As a manager, you need to deal with terminations all the time. However, the run of the mill termination revolves around “performance issues" -- in management speak,  a person isn’t doing his or her job adequately. The optimistic view is that the person is in the wrong job, and should be applying his talents elsewhere. Some people manage to be in jobs where they should be applying their talents elsewhere for years. I try to avoid including these people in my long term staffing model.


When I coach new managers on these situations, I tell them how I used to want to be a veterinarian because I love dogs, but I always thought I wouldn’t be able to put the dogs to sleep when it was needed. A vet once told me that this part of the job is not pleasant, but it is an important thing you are doing to help the dog get to a better place because he is suffering.
Think of dismissing an employee who is a “performance issue” as helping him end his suffering to get to a better place.

The thing about a layoff is you are usually putting down the healthy dogs. Now you are the poor schlub who works at the pound. Every day you’ve been feeding and walking them, little stroke under the chin now and then – hey why not? – and after so many days of no one coming around to claim the poor things, your job is to get the syringe. Gotta keep the cages clean, keep the operation moving.

When you are a manager, and it is decided that the business needs to reduce, the first thing you generally deal with is frustration over the need to eliminate resources from your team and still continue to get the same amount of work done.

This sensation quickly gives way to thoughts on how you will decide who to cut.
There are many different scenarios that can be in effect here.

A little, or a lot?

In a large-scale layoff, for example, you are typically removing several people, and in doing so, admitting that the business itself needs to be done differently, or that certain things you do today can no longer be done. This might mean laying off everyone who does a certain function. In these cases, it is easier to blame external factors like “the economy”, “the competition”, or another perennial favorite, “the recent acquisition”.

When you are asked to trim just a bit, you can sometimes easily identify one or two people on your team who have been “on the bubble” -- i.e. not performing as well as others -- but still generally ok. Or, to be incredibly candid about it, these are usually the people who are very likeable and try really hard, so you have always found a way to make it work. If you have already had these folks in a role that is perhaps less than 100% critical due to their (ahem) “unique mix of skills”, then you might find yourself in a place where you can now blame the layoff while taking care of something that you should have done to strengthen your team long ago.
 
Prime Directive
While this scenario is still painful to execute, the rest of the team generally understands the decision and can move on without any major scars. Taking the emotion out of it for a moment, that is really the key long-term objective: to keep the team effective and strong so you can continue on with the business.

How’s that for getting behind the curtain?

The worst scenario is the one where you have a tight, well-oiled machine of a team -- where you have already trimmed all of the excess, and everyone is doing a good job – and now you are asked to reduce.
 
Now you have to decide who stays on the island and who gets voted off. It is in these cases, when delivering the news is the hardest. Now in addition to pulling the proverbial rug out from under the employee, this person is going to realize that you, Mr. Manager, decided that this one is the one to go.
 
And where do you get off anyway?

You had to make a decision about how you can run the business with less staff, and you’ve chosen to retain the staff that you feel will put you in the best position moving forward. You are picking your highest performing or your highest potential employees, possibly mixed in with some data on compensation – think about a ball club who retains a potential rookie superstar in favor of the guy with the proven big arm who happens to be in a contract year. (Hey Sox fans, let’s see where Jonathan Papelbon ends up next year – it is business after all.)

For me, the problem here has always been about retaining trust and credibility – two things that have always been very important to me as a successful manager -- with the team.
 
Sitting across the table from someone and telling him his time is up and “it was based on a lot of factors that we considered for the future of the business”, you have to wonder what he is thinking about you and your contribution to the future of the damn business, thankyouverymuch! And then to later look the rest of the team in the collective eye and tell them that everything is going to be ok…well that can be tough. When you manage based on motivation, support, and trust, you can help but feel the hit that your credibility – and your effectiveness, at least in the short-term – is going to take from this.
 
Acts of kindness
A few weeks after picking up a remote team to manage the need to reduce staff came along. I flew out to the site to reduce this new team by only one, as I had insisted on telling the “chosen one” of his separation from the company in person rather than on the phone. I set up a meeting with this guy to give him the news, obviously without letting him know what the meeting was about. I also set up one-on-one meetings with the others to follow.

My intention in the subsequent meetings was to let the team know what had happened and to assure them that they were all safe. While I was able to get out of that day with the rest of this team reasonably reassured and intact, I found that every time I made a visit to that office for the next year or so, I would be greeted by a team of people with ashen faces and nervous laughs…”What time is your flight?” they would say. Translation: “how many hours until you are gone and I can know I’m safe?” So now look at me, I’m the damn Grim Reaper.

This was definitely not the environment in which I wanted to build up my kick-ass team.
Who hurts The bottom line is that layoffs are a part of business. I can’t pretend that they are not sometimes necessary or that I don’t understand the need. There have been times (more times than not) when I have been in full agreement with my company’s direction to run leaner due to changes in the market, declining sales, or the overall company resource needs. No getting off the hook there.

That said, the one thing I want to make clear is that the guy (or gal) sitting across the table from you on that horrible day is most likely experiencing a great deal of guilt, uncertainty, doubt, and most certainly heartburn, as he tells you that you need to collect your things.
 
In a role where you rely on people for success, you cannot ignore the human impact. That part doesn’t get easier over time.  It definitely hurts you way more than it hurts me. Still, you don’t want to be either side of that particular table. Unfortunately, hiding under it is not an option.

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When there is a Coup d'état

Change happens frequently, especially at large, political companies. Corporations are battlegrounds for power and control. Sooner or later there will be a coup, here's how to survive it.

The aftermath

When the announcement is made try to stay composed. Yes the change in leadership will likely mean a whole new set of priorities for you and your team, and much of what you were working on for the whole year will be wasted effort as the new leaders bring their own set of goals to accomplish, and there is a great deal of uncertainty in the organizational structure. Rather than complain and demand answers, take this time to assess, reflect, and plan your next move. Don't broadcast your disappointment, frustration and impatience. Stay focused on the customer/business and fill in any gaps that you see while the dust settles. Would you rather be seen kvetching by the water cooler, or seen as an asset who helped keep things moving in an uncertain time?

Which side you are on?

Are you on the side of the victor or the conquered? If it is easy to identify where you fall, you may need to work on being more adaptable and neutral. If you are on the winning side, don't gloat or take the opportunity to exact revenge on your enemies. If you are on the losing side work on repairing any strained work relationships, and demonstrate that you are ready to work as a team.

How to make it through the next one

Learn to spot the signs. A major shift in leadership doesn't typically happen when things are going well. When the economy is faltering, business is down, and promises are not being kept, the organization is primed for a coup. When it all shakes out there may be some layoffs, "promotions" (usually reserved for executives), and people who "decide to pursue other opportunities", and you may find you report up through a whole new structure in the organization. Make sure you keep it professional. Put your focus into doing your job well, becoming a subject matter expert, and helping others to do their jobs well too. Try to stay neutral in the game of politics, put the customer first and keep your focus in the job at hand. Take this shift in leadership as an opportunity to get your key projects on the agenda, to make the much needed process changes you've been pushing for, or to partner with the new leaders to make their goals a reality.

Survival

The goal of the new leadership is to make a significant and measurable difference in the organization. They want to prove that they deserved to win the battle, and that they are better than their predecessors. Once you understand this you will be able to look more objectively at your new circumstances and figure how you can fit in. You may even have a new boss, and you may not be as compatible with her/his work style. If you wait long enough the will be another coup before you know it.

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You're on a Need to Know Basis

Advice to Management from the hamsters who run the gossip mill. ~~ Tess McGill, guest lecturer

You do not need us to remind you that Knowledge is Power. You might need to be reminded why. The psychology of oppression tells us that the weaker will always understand the stronger more than they understand us. So let me spell this out for you.

The problem with your Need to Know philosophy is that you don't understand what we need to know.

We need to know there is a plan
We don't see your plans often. When we do they are after the fact, in the form of annual reports, and company meetings. We subscribe to online clip services for a reason, and it isn't company loyalty.

When we scratch around looking for information, it is because we are trying to see the future ahead. Please remember that we have our lives to lead, and our margins for error in decision making are actually narrower than yours. Buying the house, advising the spouse to go back to school, even signing up at the gym can follow decision trees that actually hinge on "If the company does this...." "if my Boss decided to...." Two real life examples I can vouch for are the woman considering surgery, and the engaged couple picking a wedding date, while layoff lists were being drawn up. Both of them lost their jobs, by the way (and still had the surgery and the wedding).

You managers scoff as you read this and say, "Oh, we're just supposed to show us our hand? Or stall you for an answer? You want us to lie?" No, we want you to run a company where layoffs are not an annual cost-cutting measure or management solution, but instead are caused by a catastrophic and unforeseen event, often external to normal operations. We do know the difference.

We need to know who is in charge
We have ideas. We have observations. We have objections; you know that too. When you keep us in the dark you get the short-term win of not being bothered by us, but you miss the long-term growth of the engaged worker.

We ask who made this decision or signed off on that idea because we are trying to understand where the power base is, and often just trying to spot a pattern in business culture. Because we have no playbook, we have trouble anticipating the next move, seeing the big picture, and understanding how what we are marching toward today influences where we might be marching to tomorrow.

Don't hide behind phrases like "senior management" when you mean A Senior Manager. Say "senior management" when you mean the consensus of senior managers through discussion and negotiation, toward a common business goal. When we think that's what you meant, and find out later it was just a bully executive, we are less inspired next time.

We need to know the last X months weren't all B.S.
There is a moment after the Surprise Party has been revealed when the guests stand around the celebrant and replay every conversation they have had for the past few weeks, up until the moment before the door opened. Everyone shouts merrily over each other "that's why.... that's why...." because when we have been deceived (and for all its good intentions, a surprise party is an orchestrated conspiracy of the people you love most), we need to defrag our brains of all the misinformation we have been fed "for our own good."

When big changes come to the Company, the workforce spends about a day and a half replaying its surprise party stories to find the truth, the half-truths and the flat out lies they were subjected to, often at the hands of their own managers and executives. We try to uncover what they themselves knew and when they knew it -- who was on the "inside" and who on the "outside."

Dear leaders, please do not say things like "just wait a couple of weeks. There are going to be some changes" when we ask you for advice with a difficult problem. Why not advise us based on what you know, even if you can't tell us what it is? If Future Condition is so drastically different from Current Condition that you would actually advise a different course of action... just advise it. Or we could stop asking for your advice at all and stay with the rumor mill where people speak plainly.

We need to know WHY
You never understand that part of it, do you? Even after your big reveal, you have no explanation, and it makes us suspect that is because Bob in the corner office wanted it, no one could stop him, and the company had no other plan in place to compete with his idea.

We need to know if this is about money
Honestly, we can take it. If it is true that we will all have 5-7 careers in our lifetime, then we will see you restructure, change directions, relocate, sunset, about 100 times.

Admit it is about money and we won't have to take it personally.
Admit it is about money and we won't feel so defeated going home with our box of stuff.
We won't wonder why we didn't test the thing before we bought the company.
Why you split the department only to bring it back together again.

We already think/know you didn't plan it. You'll actually look less inept, even if it does make you look greedy and selfish. We already think that anyway.

We need to know what this means for us
We are very good at a few things the executive tier has lost use for:
- sharing ideas
- working together
- representative government
- hypothesis and the scientific method
- honesty

Your lost productivity comes from the workforce hoping to figure this out on its own, seminar style.

Here's how we want it
Tell us your plan for the year; establish your priorities. If you need to be nimble, make nimble goals. "Nimble" does not mean "vague," by the way. They are not from the same language. In fact, they are opposites.

Tell us how each division will achieve these goals. Tell us who will sponsor each of those goals.
Establish cross-functional workteams from the top down, and with an eye toward our workload, skills, and development goals. Decide what things will cost and hold people accountable for the bottom line.

Publish your business crisis philosophies as openly as you do your company goals:
Is this a company that cuts spending or raises prices?
What are the above-the-line luxury items that go before people?
How does the company prepare for economic changes?

This helps us know what to expect -- especially if you stick with it. The company can then follow Laws of Its Own Nature and we can stop whispering through IM and wandering by meeting rooms to see who is in them.

Knowledge is Power, because any commodity in short supply has real value. Seed some in the grassy roots instead of deciding for us what we need.

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You Got Played

an analysis of Boss-on-Boss violence with you as ammunition


Happy New Year from the Finishing School. You have a lot coming up in the new year:
annual reviews, maternity leave (yours or hers), perhaps avoiding the layoff. With all the work you have to do, you may forget your fundamentals. You may forget that you are a pawn in the great game, and you are susceptible to being tagged.

In today's lesson, we discuss that uncomfortable family dynamic of the workplace: your boss and her boss in a tiff that involves you. These scenes can play out in a lot of directions; you may not have time to respond unless you have practiced. By following this case study, you can identify alternative choices for sticky situations between the highers-up.

Case Study
Angela works for a high-strung filly (we'll call her Phyllis, to be facetious) who has spent this year encouraging her staff to seek assistance outside of the organization. It is good for them, she says, to get exposure outside their daily spheres and to form relationships that strengthen the company as a whole. It is good for her, she knows, because it takes some of the pressure off of her for their constant attention.

What Phyllis didn't expect is that a lot of that "outside assistance" has been in the form of her own Boss, Marilyn, who now finds herself visited almost daily by one or more of Phyllis' team asking to "run something by" her. And none of them knows that is happening either.

This has set-up a pattern of outcomes for this team and its manager:
1) Marilyn provides immediate instruction when asked, and wonders why Phyllis is not more available to her staff
2) The staff take the instructed action, presenting it to Phyllis as Marilyn-approved

Enter Angela. See if you can identify the missteps in the minefield she is about to enter.

Angela learns some shocking, potentially business-impacting news in a cross-functional meeting. At first, she is too stunned to know quite how she will respond to this turn of events, but mostly she is focused on how she will tell Phyllis, her Boss, who is out of town for a business trip.

Phyllis has a tendency to leap into action, often argumentatively -- in Angela's Happy Hour parlance, "to freak slam out." Angela realizes that the way she delivers this information to her boss will make all the difference in the way she responds.

Where should Angela turn for her outside assistance?
a. a fellow team member, who knows how to handle Phyllis
b. her executive mentor, who has no stake in the outcome
c. Marilyn, to whom Phyllis will inevitably escalate this issue during her freak-out
d. None of the above. Go directly to Phyllis

Angela chooses (c), reasoning that Marilyn could help form the "messaging" and at the same time be brought up to date on the issue.

A fly-by of Marilyn's empty office leaves Angela with another mine to hop.

How should Angela raise this topic with Marilyn?
a. email, to keep all the information professional and documented
b. phone, for the most efficient conversation
c. IM, just to request a face-to-face meeting
d. None of the above. Go directly to Phyllis

Angela chooses (c), knowing that Marilyn is working from home, and prefers to meet 1:1. Asking for an audience also gives Marilyn the opportunity to request an immediate briefing if preferred.
Through IM, Angela suggests a 60 minute brief for the following day: 30 minutes to explain the topic itself, and 30 minutes to strategize the resolution plan. Marilyn expresses some hesitation about having this meeting without Phyllis present.


How should Angela respond?
a. Appeal to urgency - we really can't afford to wait for her return
b. Appeal to ego - suggest that Marilyn's point of view is valuable here... for Angela's professional development
c. Appeal to honesty - reveal the ulterior motive that what she really needs is help handling Phyllis
d. Take the advice and include Phyllis in the briefing

Angela chooses (c), having not given herself enough space to plan her next move, but is quick to add that she is just seeking advice, not escalating the issue.

Marilyn accepts the meeting, but asks to have it reduced to 30 minutes.

On the following day, Phyllis' team holds their regular staff meeting by phone.

How should Angela report on the information from her cross-team?
a. Casually - avoid the freak-out until she has a messaging strategy
b. Omittedly - she shouldn't bring it up at all
c. Straightforwardly - reporting urgent issues is a standing agenda item
d. Obscurely, within a sentence that asks for time with Phyllis to discuss in more detail

Angela chooses (c), which results in the response, "Please stay on the call after we are through."

On the after call, Phyllis reveals her hidden dragon:
After accepting Angela's meeting request yesterday, Marilyn had immediately forwarded it to Phyllis and asked why her team was escalating things over her head. Phyllis has held this since yesterday, waiting to see if Angela would bring it up on the staff call.

Angela, you got played.

Phyllis assures Angela that she does not think Angela went over her head, but what matters is that Marilyn does. Marilyn has come to feel that Phyllis' staff goes over her head often. Phyllis feels that Marilyn undermines her authority by not directing her staff back to her.

When we are being ridden by our Bosses, we can easily lose sight of the fact that they are ridden too. It may never even occur to you that one of the things she is ridden about is her effectiveness in managing you.

It is not Angela's fault that the situation between her Boss and GrandBoss had built up to the point where she was made an example of. Where Angela made her mistake was in not anticipating that such a situation could happen. For the Boss to give you an extension on that deadline, she will need to justify it to her Boss; in order to give more authority to the team, she needs to convince her Boss they are capable of handling it. Miss Bender herself was once in the painful position of giving an employee a humbling reprimand, simply because her own Boss demanded that it be done.

Angela missed several opportunities to change the outcome of her game -- opportunities she didn't even consider. Remember that every dynamic you have with your Boss she has with hers, and so on. Take the time to play your decisions through, and consider all the possible outcomes of your choices. You may still be wrong, but you won't be surprised.

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Correcting the Boss

In a recent issue of "Real Corporate Email," a publication of the Finishing School, a discussion arose about errors made by the Bosses and just when and how (and how!) to correct them.

from one of the subscribers:

The squirmiest misuse: there I was, in the audience as my boss gave a presentation. She deftly built up to her point, clicked to go to the next slide. Here it--and she--announced in all caps, "WALLA!"

WALLA? really?
And this wasn't an episode of The Office?

It is easy enough to make fun of the pointy-haired boss, to imagine how we might let them swing in the wind, to perhaps bait them to repeat the mistake: bigger, better, to a more impressive audience. I once had a Boss who used the word "behooved" when she meant "appalled," and I enjoyed getting her to do it. I was terribly young, and she was mean, but let's try to move past that, shall we?

How do you correct Boss for her benefit, and the betterment of your team?
Don't you tell her when she has poppy seeds in her teeth?

Our WALLA storyteller offered this:

"I agonized about how to handle this forever. I couldn't spare her the initial occurrence, but I thought I could prevent future folly. Finally I decided to let a little time pass, then start using 'voila!' in my writing at work. It was tricky to find the right situations, because I didn't want to come off as (any more) pretentious (than usual), so I was on the prowl for circumstances that might merit the sardonic use of the word. I think I even managed to pull off reading it aloud from my scrawl on the whiteboard in a meeting, which I thought a special triumph. After about four sweaty usages I decided I had achieved my purpose--I was in my early 20s at the time and I took this all very, very seriously."

An excellent example for us to work with, early 20s or no. These days, it is The Boss who is likely to be in her early 20s, so this opportunity may come around more than you expect.

Let it Pass
That is to say, avoid the urge to gasp, point, or mutter "Dear Lord." Practice this in your meetings, because these moments will sneak up on you. Embarrassing her will cut off any chance you have to counsel her.

Consider your relationship
If you are the Boss's consigliere, you may be able to process the incident once the right moment comes (see below). If you do not have the Insider/Personal relationship, you may choose the route our subscriber took and lead by example. An elegant choice that can work whether she is your Mentor, or you are Eve Harrington to her Margot.

Pick your moment(s)
Consiglieres have this easiest, at the end of the day when everyone's corsets are loosened, and you have your stocking feet on her chair and she on yours and you can do the slow sleepy blink and open with, "I think the slide deck worked today. Know what, though?"

In the 2nd scenario, reenacting the event correctly at the first opportunity does the trick. You have to be humble enough never to let on what you just did.

Correct with love
The slowest zebra is individually vulnerable; legend has it that the herd will move at the speed of the slowest zebra in order to protect it. It is a variation on "only as strong as our weakest link." When that zebra is The Boss, your group is easy prey. If you have the opportunity to increase her speed, it is in your best interest to do so.

Remember your Golden Rule and she will too, the next time you make some behoovingly boneheaded move.

~~ CB

Outside Reading
Better than Perfect, Dale A. Dauten
Giving Feedback, Harvard Business School Press
Managing Up, Michael S. Dobson
Quick Solutions to Common Errors in English, Angela Burt

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When the Boss is Away

Editorial: Violet Newstead, student at large

He left town last Thursday, in a flurry of "I'll have my cell if you need anything, but I'm sure you can handle it." We can, of course, we carry him most days, except for the things he keeps from us entirely. Count on those to be the things that blow up.

Boss trust is a funny kind of trust. Equal parts "Can't you just handle it?" and "You should have known better."

Boiled down, "cover for me," means "do what I would do, but I wouldn't insult you by leaving a list." They'll find other ways to do that.

They will send you to meetings you never knew they went to. The people in the meetings are bound to be tiers above you, so they don't know who you are, and that's just as well because then they don't know how to take you. One plus of today's casual work environment is that execs and drones look a lot alike. When cornered to speak for your department, affect a scowl and say, "I think we both know how Bob would answer that." Hope they don't call your bluff.

They will mistype your name or phone number on the out of office message so no one can really contact you.

They will override your decisions without even knowing what they were. The miracle that is Treo. It's a dance that goes like this: email to Boss bounces an out of office, sender deciphers how to reach the Backup, Backup provides assistance, Boss emails an hour later responding to the Sender and cc'ing the Backup. The CC of the backup can not be accidental, and the effort says, "here's what I want you to do, my backup. I want you to answer my mail, not lead the group."

They will bring you a souvenier, like you are their nephew or their dogsitter. Since you won't get a vacation, enjoy this souvenier of mine.

They will nod sympathetically when you complain later about this, and respond by naming a different back-up next time.

Maybe that's what you wanted all along.

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First I was Afraid. I was Petrified.

Session 1: Surviving the Boss Instructor: Caroline Bender


Occasionally, students ask, "How do you manage to survive so many horrible bosses?” “Survive” bears defining here, and we do so broadly. Certainly I have outlasted many, I have demoted a few; but I have also been transferred out from under them, and more than once chosen to move on because of them. The thing to underscore is that I have never been fired, in spite of some real incompatibilities and misuses of power.

Boss-by-boss, each battle seems unique, but I have identified some commonalities that can serve as guidelines for your survival. Preparing this lecture, I realized it is the same strategy that saw me through grade school, high school, college and graduate school. Building your bank of credibility creates a professional nest egg you will draw on in these hard times. Like your 401K, you must start fresh with each employer, but take advantage of rollover opportunities where you can.

The strategy requires you to reorient the way you think about your situation, and this is the hardest step in the process. But once you embrace the following premise, the rest of the steps are merely building blocks on one foundation…

Your Boss must earn the right to have someone as incredible as you on staff.

Let’s spend a few moments on this, because this can be difficult to absorb if you have thus far been operating under a cloak of oppression. When you have a horrible boss, it is human nature to get dragged down by the constant reminders of how worthless you are and begin to believe it. In fact, what you should most definitely not do is waste your time yearning for the affection and respect of someone you can’t actually stand, much less respect or admire. Instead, devote your energy to proving to yourself and everyone around you that your boss does not deserve you.

Make no mistake: these are serious headgames. This is advanced level course work here. But if you have read this far you have been the victim long enough. Show people an all-star and they will believe you are one.

True, sometimes this glow comes at a price. A truly sick Boss can turn this star power back on themselves and decide their awful management “techniques” brought this shine out in you. Let them believe it. Once they do, they will certainly never let you go – why you’re practically a reflection of themselves! This lesson is about surviving. Not winning.

When you accept the security that comes with not needing the Boss’s affection, it can no longer be withheld as a threat or a punishment. Now you slowly begin to turn the tables through the following activities. They are not necessarily “stages,” as they must all be ongoing, but each depends on the one before it being firmly in place in order to take hold itself. Embark on this quest with impressing the Boss as the last thing on your mind. She will sense your indifference right away, but have no grounds for complaint.


Be very very good at your job
Perform very well at your assignments, and show off every extraordinary work habit. Develop these if you don’t have them already. In the business world, presentation is everything, so present yourself as a consummate professional. Show up where you are expected on time – early is even better. Dress for work. Deliver what’s expected. Never miss a deadline. Read material before discussing it. Focus your attention on the speaker. Present information in a confident tone of voice at an interesting pace. Say “Good Morning” instead of “hi.” Keep your desk clean and well-stocked. This all actually intimidates people.

Be a good soldier
Soldier. Not martyr. Not messiah. It comes from the word for mercenary, and its Latin root soldum means “pay.” The good soldier earns her keep and carries her weight. Don’t shirk your duty. Develop a reputation as a person who delivers -- in spite of the mayhem, the disorganization, the lack of resources, the Crazy Boss. Everyone close to your sphere will be heard to comment, “I don’t know how she does it.”

Be generous with praise and credit
Always say thank you, in a way that becomes an ordinary aspect of your work habits. In business, this is best demonstrated by thinking like a mini-manager of your peer group and treating them with the respect and appreciation their Crazy Bosses do not. You gain the most ground by doing this through emails – again, because most people won’t. It is difficult, and time-consuming, and so very Dickensian in its business formality. Avoid any appearance of taking credit for another person’s work (it goes without saying that you never would). The worker with a strong and vocal fan base is rarely let go. And you know it as well as I do.

Perfect the humble apology
And try to mean it. But even if you can’t mean it, deliver it sincerely anyway. When you make mistakes, acknowledge them. Correct them and make amends if necessary. Most people find the apology, like the thank you, too humiliating to utter. They can not imagine standing hat in hand in front of a peer, the CEO, or the Boss they loathe and asking for forgiveness. The fact that you can do it will give you near superhuman strength in others’ eyes.

Make high-ranking friends
The ideal ally is your Boss’s boss, to the point of making her wonder what she needs your Boss for. Your exemplary work habits, devotion to duty, generous collegiality and accountability will win the attention of other managers (who, we remember, probably don’t like your Boss anyway). At best, you may get a better job offer out of it; at the very least you gain the allies who will back you up in a fight.

Trade in information
In the context of this lesson, “information” does not mean gossip (in other lessons… it most certainly will). Here we mean real information which is of use to your allies. Never spread lies, never break confidences, never mis-inform (you are an exemplary employee, after all). “Here’s a tip for you” is an opener that always gets attention. You need not request anything in return, but you nearly always will get it.

Express your feelings about the Boss carefully, and only if asked a direct question. Anything you wouldn’t want her to see on a Post-It note on her monitor screen is best said outside these walls.

Question authority
You need a deep bank of credibility to start gambling with dissent. I usually recommend a full year in a new job of doing as you are told, delivering high quality work, and building alliances before you start to rumble. Experiment by questioning the authority of your allies, and privately at first. If you have high-ranking friends, question a decision they or the company has made, in a humble tone that suggests you are trying to learn from their wisdom. This usually goes well. If you do get smacked down, walk it off. Offer your apology, and try to figure out the flaw in your delivery. Bank some more credibility in the areas above and try it again later.

If you manage to get some influential points with your high-ranking friends, don’t gloat about it to them, and don’t boast about it to others either. As surprising as it may be to you, you must project the superstar’s expectation that of course you changed the course of events. Why wouldn’t you? Give some long eye contact, a sober nod, and excuse yourself.

Over time, you’ll be able to voice dissent in more public gatherings, and eventually, your high-ranking allies will begin to seek you out. The gold medal prize is when they ask your opinion over your Boss’s – ideally.. in front of her. By the time you begin questioning the Boss to her face, you will have a jury of her own peers glad to say, “I’ve had her challenge me sometimes, but I value that difference of opinion.”

As the kids today say… snap.

Leave a paper trail
As you begin to take risks, you’ll need to protect yourself. This means keeping two important files: one that demonstrates how awesome you are, and another that demonstrates how crazy the Boss is. Feed them both. No email is too small. Taken together, a file of appreciation from others carries a lot of weight. Meanwhile, the Boss’s misdirected memos, incomplete instructions, backhanded compliments, credit stealing, and disproportionate reprimands play like a Fistful o’ Crazy. Should you tilt the scales in your favor? Absolutely, honey. If the worst comes down, the Boss will have nothing that compares to this stockpile.

Never let them see you sweat
No matter how crazy and unloved the Boss is, even the most cherished employee can throw herself to the wolves by committing a breach of protocol or decorum that writes a check your credibility bank can not cash. You have simply got to keep it together. Please yourself, impress your allies, support your colleagues. Treat the Boss like part of the furniture – a rickety ugly couch you often bark your shins on trying to get out of the den, but nothing more consequential than that.

Supervivere – to live beyond
One crazy Boss I worked for was in the job 10 years by the time I got there (18 years ago) and is still there today. So I did not best him. I lost a lot of skirmishes and I paid some hellacious and humiliating dues. What I did do was survive 7 years of his condescension and sexism until I had enough experience and education to move up and out. More importantly, I walked away with awards and recommendations, including those from him; and if you asked him today what kind of employee I was he’ll remember it fondly. He’ll never invite me over for dinner, and if I ever see him on the street I’ll pretend not to remember his name. But that’s acceptable both ways. He wasn’t my husband, my father, my lover, or even a friend. He was just the Boss.

~ CB

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