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Submitted by rja28912 on
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Seems to me that you need to take the problem to him -- get him involved -- without making it feel confrontational or making him get defensive. Let's assume that he's doing it to be funny or so your staff will feel comfortable with him and that he doesn't realize the problems it causes.

How about presenting the results as a problem and asking for his advice? I'm thinking of something along the lines of saying that you're sensing/hearing from your team that they think there's a lot of conflict among their managers and they're worried about ... fill in a suitable danger here. Have you encountered that before, and do you have any suggestions that have worked before? When he asks about the conflict or why they feel that way, you can reference a couple of instances as you've described.

chuck

Mark's picture
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R-

Two choices.

One, do nothing. There's very little you CAN do really. Folks like this are unlikely to take well to criticism, which is what they would probably call upward feedback.

Two, give him peer feedback (listen to the recent cast). The consequences are, "my folks make comments about our relationship", "my team loses all motivation, wondering if you'd say the same things about them" and "it makes my job much more difficult."

Either is appropriate and reasonable.

Mark

TimBryce's picture

Mark is correct, there is little you can do about it. Sounds like you've
got a Theory X control freak with a Napolean complex. They thrive
on degrading their subordinates. No, he won't be interested in
discussing this with you (he really doesn't care). You either sit there
and take it, transfer, or get out. But do not lower yourself to his level
by getting into a name calling situation. If what you say is true,
everyone already knows he is a clown; no need for you to do likewise.

Hope this helps.

All the Best,