Life as a Corporate Whore
The title of the blog may be 'Corporate Peon,' but I sold myself to the man (and he is an aging white man at that) years ago. And you know what? I like my shiny new car. I like my pretty new shoes. I like my new red couches and all the little microfibers that make them up. I like being able to travel to random countries 'just because.' Right now, I have no problems with my deal with the devil, for he's been a benevolent owner of my soul.Life in CubeLand is going fairly well these days. The new job is familiar now and - though still slower than I'd like - still providing me chances to learn. I have my fingers in multiple pots, which is how I like it. Even when I was doing project management from the system side, I still had an idea of what other people were working on and of what projects were happening around me. Most teams, you'd think, have this global knowledge - awareness of what the guy across the aisle from you is working on - but because project management in our shop is so...I don't know the word...focused? streamlined? - there's not a lot of that outside awareness going on. I, however, am usually one who bosses share info with, not necessarily about coworkers, but about projects or battles taking place. Then, too, I have a few contacts who keep me posted.
Speaking of contacts, coworker/friend E is leaving her current role. I have mixed feelings about that. She's good in her role, and helps me quite a bit, both in learning my new role and in putting my name out there for future opportunities, but on the other hand, she can also be condescending, patronizing, and outright rude. It's time for her to move on though, and I know she'll keep looking out for me in her new position.
E's replacement is the Russian dude who's friends with BBB. Russian will do well in his new role, and will sit right next to me. We'll learn a lot from each other - our strengths are not necessarily the other's weakness, but we'll complement each other well. He is, however, a bit of a chatty cathy, and as I found at lunch yesterday, he shares quite a bit of personal information. I don't mind hearing it, but it makes me feel as if I should share as well - and I don't want to. He also thinks BBB should leave his gf and date me, but that's an entirely different story.
My 'dotted-line' boss, S, is a woman I really like. We have the same work ethic and sense of humor, and she's giving me a lot of opportunities here.
I had a good conversation with my mentee yesterday, New Girl. She's doing well but feels she isn't, and there are a few areas she can improve in. I was nervous going into the conversation, because I wasn't sure how sensitive she would be, but it went really well and was a good dialogue. I need her to cut the cord a bit with me; she's relying on me too much, and I've been enabling that, but we're both going to work on that.
One coworker told me yesterday that she has told her bosses if they don't promote her at review time (Feb/March), then she's posting for a new job elsewhere. I have so many issues with that mentality. First of all, we're not particularly close, so why tell me that? That's just her personality, though - I know more than I need (or want) to know about her fertility treatments. Secondly, where does that attitude come from? Yes, sometimes you have to play hard ball to get more money or to get ahead. But if you're pulling that line, you better be able to back it up with concrete examples of why you deserve that promotion, and you better be ready to call their bluff if they don't. I have no doubts that she will post out if she doesn't get what she wants...and I have plenty of doubts that she's done the work deserving of a promotion.
And that's a wrap, folks. Have a good one!
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