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I have a situation at work where I am up for a promotion, get along with my manager and team very well, but have a history with my manager's boss. I worked with him several years ago and he was at least partially responsible for getting my entire team laid off. We have crossed paths many times and I have not gone out of my way to be friendly to him. I've been with the current company three years and our team was recently placed under him (un-oh). My manager needs his approval for any promotions and I'm concerned working so hard lately will be pointless because he will never approve a promotion for me. Most of the advice I've gotten from other people is that I should talk about it with him to clear the air and get things going in a more positive direction. I plan on talking to my immediate manager about it first. Thoughts?
Not to burst your bubble but your instincts are likely spot on.
Bosses boss will likely never approve any promotion for you.
What makes you so sure about that?
I had a 1:1 with my manager 6 weeks ago and was told 'I'm next' in terms of promotions. She gave me a laundry list of "goals" I should meet to quality for the promotion. Some of them include me taking classes outside work hours to develop new skills. I'm wondering if my time would be better spent looking for a new job and not working my butt off for a promotion that could be blocked by this guy. Unfortunately, I have been working so hard for this company over 3 years but have never been in to playing the politics.
Last edited by cbluciano; 08-30-2018 at 04:21 AM..
I don't understand why you think your boss's boss will not approve it...because you haven't gone out of your way to be friendly to him? is there anything other than that? Because he was tangential to your entire team being laid off years ago? That does not sound like anything to do with you or your performance. I see nothing in your post that indicates he would be opposed to your promotion.
In the vast majority of orgs, the boss's boss is peripheral to this type of decision. If your boss wants to promote you and thinks your a good candidate for a promotion, she can make it happen.
You're overthinking it. Unless you specifically were the sole reason for him having to fire an entire team, he might not even remember you, let alone let something from the past influence this decision.
What do you gain from telling your boss? If your boss's boss has a problem with you, telling your boss won't do anything to change that, so you gain nothing. If your boss's boss doesn't have a problem with you, you're introducing drama, and stirring the pot with something from the past that's irrelevant to your job.
I don't understand why you think your boss's boss will not approve it...because you haven't gone out of your way to be friendly to him? is there anything other than that? Because he was tangential to your entire team being laid off years ago? That does not sound like anything to do with you or your performance. I see nothing in your post that indicates he would be opposed to your promotion.
In the vast majority of orgs, the boss's boss is peripheral to this type of decision. If your boss wants to promote you and thinks your a good candidate for a promotion, she can make it happen.
It's awkward because we started on the same day and were friends at the old job. When I got the offer at this company, I contacted him to see if he was happy there and he replied with a great email about the company and how great of a place it was to work. A few weeks after this, I was told by other former coworkers there he was responsible for getting us canned. Now he's a VP - when we cross paths in the hallway, we ignore eachother. When he walks past my team's area, he often stares at me and occasionally stops walking to look at me (sounds weird, but it's true - not sure if this is an attempt at intimidation or what). Sometimes he walks to the desk across from mine and looks over the monitor just to look at me. I am definitely under the microscope with him for some reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lekrii
You're overthinking it. Unless you specifically were the sole reason for him having to fire an entire team, he might not even remember you, let alone let something from the past influence this decision.
What do you gain from telling your boss? If your boss's boss has a problem with you, telling your boss won't do anything to change that, so you gain nothing. If your boss's boss doesn't have a problem with you, you're introducing drama, and stirring the pot with something from the past that's irrelevant to your job.
I spoke to my boss about this today and basically asked if she had gotten any negative feedback from him about me. She was completely clueless about it and said she has not, and that all her feedback to him about me is positive and that I'm doing well there.
I spoke to my boss about this today and basically asked if she had gotten any negative feedback from him about me. She was completely clueless about it and said she has not, and that all her feedback to him about me is positive and that I'm doing well there.
I'd leave it at that then. Unless there was a fairly serious reason for the person to fire you personally before (and again, you, not your old team), I don't think you have a lot to worry about.
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Oh, and I agree with Sonya.
