A: Ouch. Let’s assume for a moment that there is no mistaking what happened: you prepped for the meeting, you cleared your presentation with your boss, and then, when challenged about something, he left you to take the hit. Publicly. Let’s also assume that there are extenuating circumstances that make up and quitting out of protest not a viable option. Circumstances like… you have at least half a brain. This may or may not be an easy situation to remedy. Here’s what comes next:
Regardless of how supportive your boss was previously, you just got a big clue that he is now acting as a politician. Something is going on, and defending you at the meeting wasn’t going to help him maneuver toward his goals. This could be for a number of reasons, each leading a very specific course of action:
- He may have felt that there was no reason to stand up to the person who challenged you in the meeting. e.g., Maybe the person who attacked you was a paper tiger who likes to make waves in meetings but who is politically powerless. In this case, you have nothing to worry about. Your boss was right to ignore the attack, and you should follow suit.
- Your boss might be angling for a bigger job right now and doesn’t want egg on his face. In this case, you might be OK. I say might be because it’s going to depend on personal relationships. Your boss made a tactical mistake in this scenario; in the eyes of superiors, your mistake is your boss’ mistake, even if he thought he could avoid it. The next thing that will happen is that your boss will be told to manage you more closely, and here’s where things get tricky: if your boss is shrewd, you may actually be OK… politicians work in a world of chits and favors, and you can now call one in. It’s a delicate conversation, but you may, in essence, tell your boss, “Hey, I just took a bullet for you. Help me survive this.” And why, pray tell, would your boss do this for you? If you can indicate that you are loyal to him—that you are in his camp—then he has in you someone who will make him look good when it matters most (you already did it once!), and he’ll want to keep you around for that. Don’t shake your head. It happens all the time.
- Your boss might be angling and may not care about you being collateral damage. In this case, all bets are off, but be careful. The above conversation will buy you nothing, but your boss will unlikely be so naïve as to tip his hand; only on TV do people say things like, “That’s nice… but I’m going to enjoy watching you get fired!” You’re going to have to feel this one out, while keeping in mind that your emotional state is going to make you want to choose this option even if it’s not the right one. A big clue if you’re dealing with a political animal: his career history will be littered with others’ wrecked careers. Again, be careful: this is someone practiced at the game, and he has a leg up on you. (Remember, you screwed up in the meeting.) You deal with this one by waiting for an opportunity to out him comes to you. Actively going around your boss is likely to backfire: you should assume that the politician has already anticipated the likelihood of you trying to go around him, and has booby-trapped those conversations.
- Your boss could be incompetent. This one’s easy: moving forward, work around your boss. Go to others to help you and get clearance on important work from his peers and even his superiors, if possible. It may not work, especially if your relationships with these others are weak, but at least this way you’ll have a fighting chance of exposing him. One word of caution: never speak unfavorably of your boss during your exchanges with others.
- You are in over your head, and this was your boss’ way of exiting you… “gently.” It is possible that your boss thinks you are in the wrong role. It could be that your boss is under pressure to fire you from others. In this case, you definitely have a problem, and the problem is YOU. It is a lot cheaper for a company to have you quit out of aggravation than to fire you, and leaving you hanging in a meeting is pretty aggravating, to say the least. Before you scream about how unethical that is, keep in mind that this approach also gives you the biggest opportunity to save yourself. You may not like the way in which the situation is being handled, and I’ll give you that… then I’ll challenge you to start having some tough conversations about what you need to do better and start tightening up your work product. You’ll want to go to everyone in this case: your boss, your boss’ boss, HR, peers, vendors, customers… and you’ll want to say, “I just got a pretty big clue that I’ve got some space for improvement, and I’m dedicated to making it happen now so that this project/program/department is successful. I’m coming to you for feedback. Look me in the eye and tell me what you see as my strengths and shortcomings.” Write down everything you hear. Or ask HR to have a 360 done on you!
Not fun stuff, I know, but something that happens in real life that you should be prepared for nonetheless.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I have to admit I’ve never been good at navigating the political landscape. I’ve always been a beliver that hard work will pay off. I still believe that, but know that understanding the politics of the office and company is vital to your survival in the company.
Where can I go (books, pubs, websites) to get a better understanding of how to navigate the political landscape of corporate America?
Thank you in advance for your response.
Politics is never a substitute for hard work… but hard work alone is insufficient, as it still leaves your future to be determined by others, either for good or bad.
Books you might want to check out include Survival of the Savvy, Getting to Yes (Negotiation strategy fundamentals share much… like, everything… with political strategy fundamentals), How to Self-Destruct (to better understand why politics are important and the risk you take by not engaging), How to Win Friends and Influence People (personal success fundamentals and the politics fundamentals are also the same), The Sales Bible (ditto salesmanship fundamentals) and, if you’re the type who likes to read and can pull lessons from stories, Shogun and/or Founding Brothers… both books take you into a world where “straight-line progress” is blocked, and deals must be struck.
Good luck!
Great insight into how to handle the situation when one gets sandbagged.
An addendum to point one: this could be an on the job training for handling different challenges.