I am working in a pretty abusive environment and have been working here just over two years. My boss is the founder and head of the business and she manages through intimidation. There are about 300 employees and the place is a revolving door. I am a director and I've seen 15 directors come and go since coming on board. Her favorite thing is to berate us directors in front of one another. I have been berated in front of others (which is bad) and have had others berated in front of me (which is also bad). She will berate you one on one, but prefers doing it in front of others.
Through the last two painful years I have also been affected by the mentoring, or lack there-of, that I have gotten from my parents. Things are always emotionally challenging but I had a particularly upsetting meeting with my boss one day in which she yelled at me for things I had done, which she knew I was doing and asked me to do and approved that they be done. This is how she manages and while I knew this, it was the first time I had experienced one of these meetings with her where she lied to my face about my work. I knew enough to know I had to go along because if I defended myself I would be fired. I have a mortgage and bills so I sucked it up.
I was shaken up to say the least. I work hard and take pride in my work so this was startling, even though I was aware of her management style. I cried a lot because I had been working so hard and was in shock. This is a boss who is never happy even when she is happy. I told my dad what had gone on and his first response was I should get a new career and his second response was well then you need to get out of there. I was looking for a little more mentoring from someone who has also been out there and had his own challenges in his career. In turning to my mom the only thing she could offer was: I'm so glad I've never had to have a career.
Since that time work has been the same--the same abuse, the same misery. I have sent my resume for other positions at other places, but there is a lot of competition out there right now with so many people out of work. Internally I have become more angry and bitter, which is a huge problem. I feel like I am an emotional mess. I feel like while others can experience this environment unscathed, for me it has really been damaging. But it has also hurt me that my parents only want to hear that everything is okay. They have no ability to mentor.
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