Article July 2, 2001 Issue

The big bad boss

She turned out to be a little angel.

By Karla Vallance

It was my first year at a new job—writing television news—in a new city, Atlanta. As anybody who's been through it knows, that's hard enough. But on top of it all, I had a supervisor who made my life miserable. She was known for destroying writers whom she didn't like or who she thought didn't measure up. She made me feel as though I couldn't do anything. I tried to meet with her to talk about it, but she refused. I couldn't see any way out. I was totally demoralized.

To maintain my sanity, I prayed. For most of my life I've turned to God in prayer because that's where I've found answers. For me, it's listening to God for guidance that gives me peace of mind and clarity about how to approach problems.

So, that's what I did in this case. I knew one thing very clearly—I needed to love my supervisor in this, and I needed to heal what was an incredibly hostile relationship. Whenever I got angry, I would actively pray to see her as I thought God would see her. I would turn to what I had learned in the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible, where it says very clearly, "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." And then, "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Near the end of the chapter it says, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."

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