When you're stuck with (another) day, that's gray, and looonelly...

Since yesterday's blog, I learned a few things. Apparently, my boss, unbeknownst to me, has been in discussions with the Marketing Communications (Marcom) group to move me over there as a "writer." Now, coincidentally, I was simultaneously developing a business case for basically the same thing, except (and this is a big "except") under the auspices of being a "Team Lead".

Why a "Team Lead" you ask and not a Manager? Well, the company I work for (it's big, it's blue, and its people are known to be heartless robots), has interesting definitions of what makes a "Manager" per-se. You have to have a certain number of people directly reporting to you in order for you to be considered a Manager. And even if I did move over to the Marcom group at the level I want, there aren't the proper number of people to report to me to satisfy the requirement. So, at best, I can get a "Team Lead" position which basically means the same thing, but doesn't come with the requisite pay raise. Oh well.

Anyway, I found out my bosses' plans in a meeting with him yesterday and feeling that it was especially lucky that I did find out ahead of time (since everyone talks about me, but not to me) I also took the opportunity to tell him that if I didn't get a "Team Lead" position there, I would not be staying with the company.

Gutsy move I might regret later, but here's why:

1. This is the second consecutive job that I have been promised a Team Lead position in and this is the second one that has renegged on their word


2. If I move over as a "Writer" I will be in effect, putting my career back 3-4 years, since I have held the following titles in the last 4 years: Sr. Technical Writer and Marketing Manager. To go back to "Writer" would be career stupidity

The interesting thing is, that even people here at work that I talk to regularly seem to know more about my bosses' career plans for me than even I do. I find the whole charade fascinating and revolting at the same time.

The funny thing is, in my meeting yesterday my boss said, "Well first, you should never tell your boss you quit unless you're willing to follow through with it."

You know what I did, I chuckled, and then I said, "I wasn't kidding. You're my fourth boss in six months. That's six months that I've been scratching and clawing my way by myself, with absolutely no support behind me whatsoever and I'm done fighting. There are other companies out there who would welcome me and give me the support I need to get my job done."

There wasn't much he could say after that. So, I have a meeting mid-morning today to discuss my "move" and I suspect I'll have a pretty good feeling after that meeting as to my future at my current company. Interestingly, while I don't relish the idea of moving yet again, I really don't care. I honestly don't care whether I stay or go. I suspect that's what has emboldened me to make the demands I've made.

When you've got nothing to lose, why not?

When you're stuck with a day, that's gray, and loooneely....

For today's blog entry, I had grand plans of discussing how we might finally be able to resolve the redneck issue here in the U.S. See, the Thames River has overflowed in the UK, forcing massive evacuations. I was hoping to find an interview by the BBC with some toothless Euro-Redneck and then make wild sweeping claims about how people need to get off the South's back concerning our population of river dwellers.

And then, I came into work and got into an argument with one of my protege's (actually, I guess he's a step above me) over his having one of his recent hires, do my job. It finally ended up with me stomping over to my new bosses' office and saying, "F**K it. I'm done." Yes, I used those words.

A little history here: I used to work where I work now a couple of years ago and I left because they wouldn't offer me a permanent position--just wanted to keep me on contract. The boss I was working for at the time contacted me late last year about coming back and after protracted discussions, I finally came back in Feb. of this year. Here was the deal I was supposed to get:

• the pay I asked for
• the benefits I asked for
• my own small writing team, and thus "manager" experience I've been wanting to get

Well, several re-organizations (and 4 managers) later, here's what I have:

• the pay I asked for
• the benefits I asked for
• I'm still working by myself, with no "team" in sight

There are many reasons for why I'm frustrated, but it basically comes down to having to constantly justify what I do. I've worked at companies who just fell over themselves giving me work to do, but here I often have to go out and beg for work. When I do, I usually get inundated, but the point is that I have to keep reminding people that I'm here. There is plenty of work for myself and a small team of writers if only we could get the project managers to send us the work rather than sending it to an outside agency. The funny thing is, half the time they come back to me later and say, "Yeah, I sent this to the agency and it's really not what I'm looking for. Can you fix?"

So, I have enough work to justify at least one more writer if the process I've put in place were followed (and I had some kind of manager behind me enforcing it), but the longer I go on by myself having to delay projects, or flat out turn them down because I can't finish them on time, the less of a chance I have of getting my own team because the projects just get shipped off to some outside agency who really just don't have a clue. And since I end up "fixing" them when they do come back from the agency, the manager in charge of the particular project is happy and doesn't care that they just bypassed me to get the project done.

I just want to grab them by the shirt collar and scream, "But it's my job a**hole! Don't you get it? When you give it to someone else, you are basically saying you don't need me anymore."

So I've calmed down a bit since this morn's explosion, but I'm still resolved to either get this fixed in the next month, or find another job. Trust me folks, some of the biggest names in corporate America really don't have a clue when it comes down to people and processes. I guess there are enough young grads lined up (we have kids earning their Master's degree working as Interns) to bother caring about the people already on staff.

On top of that, my company issued a memo early this year indicating that they were starting a "minority hiring" initiative, meaning they are purposefully hiring/promoting women and minorities, which means if you're a white male, best of luck to ya! So, I don't think my future here is too rosey. But we'll see. I have one more ace up my sleeve which I'll try and play either late this week or early next and if it doesn't work, I walk. I'll keep you updated.