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Submitted by novakane on
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I'm currently quite frustrated with the owners direction and management of our company. I am an executive operator for two partners of a business. Recently they have become quite disengaged from direct involvement in the business, but are actively dictating the direction and overriding my decisions at every turn. In short I am quickly loosing faith in their leadership and I am considering my options to leave. I'm cautious to engage them directly since we managers are always advised to never tell our boss how to do their job. Also, they both get emotionally explosive whenever challenged. 

Anyone have any experience in a situation like this? Any suggestions I can try to salvage it or should I pursue a less toxic employment opportunity?

Thanks

edcrawfordlv's picture

I'm in a similar situation.  My best advice is to watch your attitude.  Im High C + D, so it drives me nuts that my firm's owners are less engaged in tasks and yet still want to micro-manage decisions.  I can quickly get visibly frustrated if I'm not careful which reduces my effectiveness at work.  Which then ironically will make my owners micro-manage even more.

Pursue an opportunity that is more satisfying.  It's a long process.  Perhaps things will get better while you are doing your search and you can back off, but develop your back up plan.

E

donm's picture
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I've always found that confronting issues directly is the best way to handle just about anything. Go in with specifics of where they went out of bounds, and discuss the parameters with them professionally. If they choose to fly off the handle, so be it. Go back to considering your options.

I had a senior who was assigning my men to tasks directly. I pretty much walked into his office and said, "Hey, do you have a minute?" (Nods) "Yesterday, you asked X to do this job for you. I'm glad we were able to help you. Next time, can you bring the request to me? I may be able to use the opportunity to train other folks or even to gauge if X is doing the job correctly." (Paraphrased, but it didn't take more then two minutes to work this out.)

No argument. No challenge. No drama. He, of course, acquiesced. We've had no other issues since that time, and it was at least two years ago. I didn't say, "You did this wrong," or "This is my bailiwick." I just told him that there are more issues than just the task at hand, and asked him professionally to let me do my job.

teaguek122's picture

I agree with the two above comments. I think you can be professional and ask the owners for more trust on their part.
But it all comes down to trust, cause if your boss doesn't trust you then 
you might as well start a serious job search immediately. 

From your description it sounds like the partners are in between on the issue; disengaged yet still managing.

mclaire4leaders's picture

If the line of communication between management and owners are not open, there will always be room for conflicts. I agree that the best solution is to talk things out with the upper boss, without being antagonistic. However if this couldn't be solved in a diplomatic way and you feel that they don't trust you anymore with your decisions, then you might want to consider leaving. However you should take into consideration your options, just make sure it will also be a wise career move. 

"You are never too old to set another goal, or dream a new dream" -C.S. Lewis

Claire Farnell

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