Article June 14, 2004 Issue

POWERLESS in the workplace?

By Channing Walker

The job was great . The project and the work were rewarding. A couple of the co-workers were my closest friends. The organization, widely acclaimed, hummed with the camaraderie that makes for contented and productive employees.

So, why was I miserable? Because my relationship with the president, the owner of the company, was a disaster. He was the one who had hired me, but within just a few weeks, things started to deteriorate. Communication between us grew strained, then almost nonexistent. All the trust we'd originally placed in each other disappeared. And despite repeated attempts, I just couldn't get on the same page with him.

These troubles came to a head after I was about three months into the job. I accidentally overheard a conversation between him and my immediate supervisor. The president was verbally running me into the dirt. The list of negatives went on and on. By then, none of his complaints was new to me. The outburst had, in fact, been building for a while. And frankly, my confidence had eroded to the point where some of what he was saying was probably true—I felt I had become an indecisive, ineffectual worker, riddled with self-doubt. Still, overhearing that harangue made for a stinging moment. Did I find it unfair? Yes. Did that make any difference? Not a bit. He ran the organization. He owned it. I knew my days there were numbered. And I was powerless to do anything about it.