Don’t panic!

Don’t panic!

February 19, 2015 Uncategorized 0

Recently, a friend who is having issues with her supervisors (i.e. people who give new meaning to the term “incompetent”), a friend who has recently seen a number of her colleagues fired, had a disturbing talk with the manager immediately over her. Charmingly, her manager began the conversation saying, “I don’t think you do a good job.” Lovely. My friend managed to remain calm, and her boss promised to come by office after the weekend, to further the discussion. Little bit ominous…little bit. Understandably panicked, my friend told me that she was planning to go in Monday, and pack up her office, just so that she could be prepared; she felt sure that her boss was going to come in and fire her.

Luckily, after we talked it through, I was able to make my friend see what a potentially dangerous and rash act cleaning out her office would have been. Let’s face it, so much of surviving and even succeeding in an office is based on how one presents, on the impression one gives to the world. In the game of chicken that my friend’s manager was playing with her, packing up her office in advance, would have been tantamount to an admission of guilt, to giving up. If she had packed up her office, her manager could have easily said, “Oh, so you want to leave? By all means…!” (If you are realizing that corporate America is a mixture of junior high and some infamous psychological experiment…indeed.)

Of course, after all that foreshadowing and drama, what ended up happening, is that the manager did come by, and she and my friend actually had a very productive conversation.  I don’t think my friend is planning to remain at this company for the rest of her professional life, but at least she felt that she had won her boss back over to her side, and that her job was no longer in immediate danger.

Let’s say you are having similar issues at your office. Miserable, stressful, and exhausting as it is, you’re going to have to keep your feelings and fears to yourself. You must present an organized, competent, and above all, calm exterior to the world around you. You’re going to have to be discreet. Don’t vent about your moronic co-workers on Twitter or Facebook;  at the next happy hour, be aware of who’s in your general vicinity if that fifth gin & tonic makes you want to vent.

If you decide to consult an attorney to discuss your rights, email that attorney from a personal account, and do NOT check that email at the office.  Do, however, take this time to forward any relevant email trails to your personal email. If, despite your best efforts, things go from bad to worse, and you’re locked out of the company computer system, you very well may need those emails later on.

But crucially, do NOT clean out your office. Do not blink. Avoid the urge to panic. This holds true even if you’re desperately trying to be fired, due to a cushy severance package. If your company knows you want to be fired, you immediately lose some bargaining power. What if they, knowing you want to leave, decide to make your life so miserable that you, eventually, quit? You’d be out, alright…but without any cash. What if they were planning on promoting you, but then it got back to your boss that you were very audibly counting the days till you were cut loose?

Whatever your situation is, whether you’re desperate to be fired, or desperate to avoid being fired…panic is always a bad idea. Panic will cause you to lose your psychological edge, and may cause you to do or say something that can potentially turn a situation that is all in your mind, into something all too real.

 

 

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