Article October 20, 2008 Issue

God's power in my life

Out of the ring of office politics and subtle power plays

BY TAD BLAKE–WEBER

After working one year at a major magazine in San Francisco, I received my first performance review from my new boss. And he told me outright that even though I was doing a decent job, I was the hardest person on the team to work with.

A shock, yes, because when I'd started there, the work had been fun and creative. Everyone on our small team seemed to love and appreciate art and avant–garde music. Because we were all in one room together, we'd gotten to know each other pretty quickly. Since we'd work late nights and had to move quickly on a lot of projects, good communication and camaraderie were key.

When my first boss resigned, six months after I was hired, the company decided to fill the position from outside the organization, passing over our senior team member, who we all thought was better suited for the job. Ultimately, everyone on the team felt snubbed. And this set the stage for negative feelings toward the new boss.