I have a boss at work who’s known to talk down to her employees and in general be kinda nasty. She has high turnover in her dept. People leave just to get away from her. She’s is not like that to me. I seem to be the golden boy and coworkers notice. I did not ask for this honor and I certainly did not brown nose my way into it.
I have been in the dept for 4 years, but most everybody else has been there for apx one year. I’m tired of seeing good adequate employees move on because of her. My life is pretty good at work, I don’t want her to turn on me, I just want her to treat others better.
When my parents passed away, I found out to my shock that my siblings saw me as the golden boy. Hard feelings there, haven’t spoken to siblings for almost 7 years. I know what it’s like to be on this side of the ledger. I want to maintain good relationships w/ my coworkers.
Do I have any responsibilities to attempt to help my coworkers? If yes, what can my approach be? I don’t feel like I should tell her how to deal w/ coworkers, but I think I should frame it as how the goldenness affects my work relationships. Do you think it would help?
Thanks for all the advice.
Responsibility? I don’t know. But helping your co-workers is always a good idea. Your boss seems to lack true leadership qualities which you have the opportunity to demonstrate. Whether that pays off in your job is uncertain but engendering good relationships with others on the job can pay off very well over time either with your current employer or in the future. If you’re working for a company you want to stay at they should recognize your teamwork ability. If not, the high turnover will send those people to other companies where they’ll remember you as the person who was not a problem and may open the door for a better opportunity somewhere else. And on top of any career reasons there’s a certain satisfaction in knowing you did went that extra mile to do the best job you could, not just individually but to help your department and company as a whole. Best of luck going forward.
You could do future employees a favor by also finding another job. If you are the glue that actually holds the department together, your leaving my get the bad boss replaced.
You could attempt to broach the subject with your boss, but don’t be surprised if it comes back to bite you. Some people can’t or won’t change.
All you can do is be a good coworker. Don’t hesitate to accept praise for work you’ve done, but if you had help, let your boss know and name names. If your boss comes to you with a problem, don’t always volunteer yourself for the task. Recommend the coworker you know would do a better job. If your boss consistently ignores a coworker’s suggestions in staff meetings but you think they are good, don’t be afraid to say something like, “I think we should explore Sassafras’s idea to do X,Y, and Z.” Maybe it isn’t a good idea, but at least Sassafras will appreciate being heard. If you catch a coworker making a small mistake, don’t be a tattle tale. And if your boss starts complaining about a coworker, try not to add your own negative commentary. You can listen respectfully without throwing someone under the bus just to make yourself look good.
Really, if you abide by these simple rules, I think it’s unreasonable to expect you to do anything more.
What Monstro said. I think a direct intervention would not be good for you. Doing your best to spread the gold could help.