Office Coach by Marie McIntyre: Immature, insecure top execs create toxic conditions at work

Office Coach by Marie McIntyre

Paranoid managers almost always fail in the long run. Their brutal style drives away top performers and keeps people from telling them about problems.

Q Our new CEO is very vindictive and has a network of "spies" who feed him stories about people he doesn't like. He uses fabricated information to fire people and displays his power by having security escort terminated employees off the premises.

Another manager and I met with him to talk about how customer service and employee morale have been affected by all this negativity. We had numbers to prove that customer satisfaction has declined and employee turnover has increased since his administration came in.

In the meeting, we presented our concerns professionally and did not complain about the CEO. The end result was that he had Human Resources place us both on final written warning for insubordination. For the next year, we can be immediately terminated for any additional offenses.

Now that I have become a sacrificial lamb, I need to know how to direct attention away from myself, especially since the CEO questions people about my activities. What sort of relationship is it safe to establish with this person? And do you think this type of leadership will succeed?

A With a malicious and destructive CEO, the only safe choices are to lie low or leave. The CEO position has almost unlimited power, which can readily be used against anyone viewed as an adversary.

Immature and insecure executives take any negative feedback as a personal betrayal, which is why your well-intentioned comments were perceived as insubordination. Your final warning puts you perilously close to receiving one of the infamous security escorts.

To escape this fate, you must focus on your work and avoid drawing attention to yourself. If you see the CEO, smile pleasantly and say hello. When talking with him about business issues, be your most agreeable and friendly self. After awhile, his wrath is likely to dissipate.

But even if you survive, you're still stuck in a toxic organization, which is harmful to both your mental and physical health. To reduce your stress, stop trying to change things that are completely out of your control, like your CEO's management style. Instead focus your energy on exploring possible opportunities elsewhere.

Paranoid managers almost always fail in the long run. Their brutal style drives away top performers and keeps people from telling them about problems.

But this downfall often takes quite awhile, so you would be wise to get a job search under way.

Q I am a part-time horticulturist in a large hotel. My job is to keep all the inside plants clean, watered and disease free. I work all night on the graveyard shift with another co-worker who does the same job full time. He also goes to school and has two part-time jobs.

The problem is that my co-worker uses this night shift position to sleep, so I have to work twice as hard. Our boss is not here at night, so he thinks this person is just the greatest. I don't want to be a snitch, and I don't know whether I would be believed anyway. What should I do?

A First, ask your manager to differentiate clearly the duties of these two jobs. Explain that the work can be done more efficiently if you each have distinct responsibilities or a specific territory to cover.

Then you must do only your own job. If you stop covering for the sleepyhead, your boss will eventually notice the dry, dusty foliage in his area.

Your other option is to make an appointment with Human Resources and describe the problem just as you have here.

Action is quite likely to follow, since hotel management is not paying people to snooze.

Paranoid managers almost always fail in the long run. Their brutal style drives away top performers and keeps people from telling them about problems.

● Marie G. McIntyre is a workplace coach and the author of "Secrets to Winning at Office Politics." Send in questions and get free coaching tips at www.yourofficecoach.com.

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