Stressed Out!

Have you ever been in those situations where you are trying to maintain your superiors' face and not show that they didn't do what they're supposed to do, but with the expected result of making yourself look like a stupid idiot?











Well, I've been in that situation many times... is it because I'm a pushover? Am I being too nice? Whatever it is, to me, I should be covering my superior's a*# in front of other people, even if they didn't do what they were supposed to do, ie review & comment on my work, provide guidance & direction on what we're supposed to do, and a bunch of other things a superior is supposed to do... That's my principle - if my subordinate messed up, and it was detected in a public arena (eg. meeting) and it was something that I missed, then I would own up to it and not blame anyone else. Even if I was not involved in it, ie she did it on her own without needing my input, I would still hold myself accountable for it when dealing with others. After the meeting/discussion/whatnot, I can have my own talk with my staff on reviewing things within her own area, but I would not, repeat, NOT, blame her in front of others.

Unfortunately, we seem to have many people who are more than happy to just point out, 'Oh, I mentioned this to her already, but she didn't put that in', or 'I'm sorry, my staff messed up' - to all and sundry!!! No consideration given whatsoever to the person's feelings & face... I wonder, when they say these things, do they think about how it makes them look to the others? They look IRRESPONSIBLE, with no sense of ownership... not to mention being completely poor examples of leaders who cannot maintain their staff's self-esteem, among other things...

Forget about any thanks or even recognition for doing work beyond our own area of accountability (ie of a higher level)... what they see is just the things we didn't do, or did do but not well.... somehow the thought that it's not even ours to begin with no longer comes to mind, because everything is/has been delegated to us in the name of managing work effectively, and thus the accountability is ours, without the reward/recognition.

Oh why am I even bothering to say all this? Because this is the only avenue where I can voice out my feelings. I know it makes no difference to say all this here, but then again, it makes no difference to say it to the powers-that-be at work as well... only my colleagues know (and some, understand) what really takes place in the office...






Anyway, once again, my colleague and I were in a bind - do we answer truthfully, and make our superiors look bad in front of a higher authority, or try to cover as best as we could, but with the definite result that we look like unthinking idiots who don't know how to do their work?

I admit, I'm not the smartest at work, nor am I very good at strategic matters and stuff... but it's one thing to know and admit that I'm not smart, and another thing to feel stupid and small in front of my peers! I don't think any of us will feel good if people in our own department can make remarks like 'I don't see the value-adding activities that you do here'. Just because you don't seem to understand what we do, doesn't mean that what we work on doesn't add value to anything or anyone!

I'M SO STRESSED OUT!!! I NEED A DOSE OF RETAIL THERAPY!!!!