Some things are better left
unsaid, a wise girl once told
me. Actually, five regretful girls
told me—after saying things to
their bosses they wished they
could have sucked right back in
their mouths.
1. Your Side Business:
It’s fine to have a hobby, and it’s
fine and dandy if that hobby
makes you a profit. What’s not
fine is selling your services to
your manager and her peers.
Case in point: A girl I used to
work with was getting some
negative feedback on her recent
performance.
Little things were building up to
be a big thing, and rumors were
swirling that management had
had enough of her lack of
attentiveness in meetings and
constant mistakes. They finally
found out why this initial rock
star was dwindling into a clock-
watcher. At an important client
dinner, she announced to a
manager (who just told the table
that she’s getting married) that
she’d love to plan her wedding
because she’s been trying to
build her clientele.
Turns out, she was an on-the-
side event planner. When she
asked me later if I noticed how
weird managers were being
around her, all I could think of
was “Yes, and it’s probably
because they’re paying you $50K
a year and their work is being
neglected by the start-up you’re
promoting on their time.” Yeah,
that might be it.
2. Exhaustion Due to Late Night
Studying:
It’s totally cool to walk into the
office tired from a late night of
working overtime—in fact, it will
probably earn you some big-girl
Brownie badges that’ll help for
your next promotion. But it’s not
OK to complain because you had
to stay up and study for an exam
you have to take in order to
make a career switch. True story:
a girl I worked with in a
marketing department walked
into a morning meeting yawning.
When our boss playfully asked if
she had a late night out, the girl
replied, “Ugh, I wish. I was
studying forever last night for my
teaching certification.” If you’re
wondering if she pretty much
told our bosses that she’s actively
trying to get another job outside
of the company—well, yes she
did. And, she felt about 10 times
more awkward than you do
reading this after she
broadcasted her calculated plot
to quit ASAP as soon as she could
find a good teaching job in a
nice school district. She ended it
with, “It’s just so hard finding a
job in this economy, you know?”
3. TMI Doctor Visit Details
If you need a sick day, fine. Even
feel free to share whether it’s
something minor or serious, if
you really want. But, whatever
you do, leave out anything that
will conjure up unpleasant
images in your boss’ mind. A few
years ago, a girl I interned with
sent a note to our male boss
about an infection she had,
ahem, down there. I’ll never
forget the look on his face when
he opened up the email. It’s the
same face you make when you
see intoxicated couples making
out on the subway. You think,
they’re clearly not in their right
minds, and they will regret this
and feel as appalled as I do
tomorrow when they come to.
And so will you if you divulge
things to your boss that should
never be discussed outside of an
exam room.
4. How Bad You Screwed Up
Once at a work happy hour,
A group of us were sharing
stories—you know, funny
happenings around the office, G-
rated embarrassing moments—
until one admission turned the
room silent. Turns out, it’s one
thing to accidentally break the
copier, but quite another to
damage client relationships. One
of my peers had a cocktail in
hand with pink liquid swishing
from side to side as she laughed
so hard she cried about the time
she accidentally tweeted about a
Bravo TV show on behalf of the
client on accident. As soon as she
saw our manager’s agitated
fluttering of the eyes, she
panicked—and ordered a bigger
drink to wallow in her sorrows.
She was a social media manager,
and I don’t blame her for
wanting to swim away in that
fruity drink of hers. If I had
offered up a reason for my
bosses to no longer trust my
judgment, I would have ordered
up another round for myself, too.
5. The Real Reason You Left
Your Last Job:
Acceptable reasons for leaving
your previous job for your
current one can be any number
of things: relocation, a career
switch, an urge to feel challenged
or an interest in a different
company culture. One thing that
is not a sufficient reason, and if
spoken could cause some
serious damage to your boss-
employee relationship? That you
were looking for something
“slower-paced, less challenging,
easier.”...
unsaid, a wise girl once told
me. Actually, five regretful girls
told me—after saying things to
their bosses they wished they
could have sucked right back in
their mouths.
1. Your Side Business:
It’s fine to have a hobby, and it’s
fine and dandy if that hobby
makes you a profit. What’s not
fine is selling your services to
your manager and her peers.
Case in point: A girl I used to
work with was getting some
negative feedback on her recent
performance.
Little things were building up to
be a big thing, and rumors were
swirling that management had
had enough of her lack of
attentiveness in meetings and
constant mistakes. They finally
found out why this initial rock
star was dwindling into a clock-
watcher. At an important client
dinner, she announced to a
manager (who just told the table
that she’s getting married) that
she’d love to plan her wedding
because she’s been trying to
build her clientele.
Turns out, she was an on-the-
side event planner. When she
asked me later if I noticed how
weird managers were being
around her, all I could think of
was “Yes, and it’s probably
because they’re paying you $50K
a year and their work is being
neglected by the start-up you’re
promoting on their time.” Yeah,
that might be it.
2. Exhaustion Due to Late Night
Studying:
It’s totally cool to walk into the
office tired from a late night of
working overtime—in fact, it will
probably earn you some big-girl
Brownie badges that’ll help for
your next promotion. But it’s not
OK to complain because you had
to stay up and study for an exam
you have to take in order to
make a career switch. True story:
a girl I worked with in a
marketing department walked
into a morning meeting yawning.
When our boss playfully asked if
she had a late night out, the girl
replied, “Ugh, I wish. I was
studying forever last night for my
teaching certification.” If you’re
wondering if she pretty much
told our bosses that she’s actively
trying to get another job outside
of the company—well, yes she
did. And, she felt about 10 times
more awkward than you do
reading this after she
broadcasted her calculated plot
to quit ASAP as soon as she could
find a good teaching job in a
nice school district. She ended it
with, “It’s just so hard finding a
job in this economy, you know?”
3. TMI Doctor Visit Details
If you need a sick day, fine. Even
feel free to share whether it’s
something minor or serious, if
you really want. But, whatever
you do, leave out anything that
will conjure up unpleasant
images in your boss’ mind. A few
years ago, a girl I interned with
sent a note to our male boss
about an infection she had,
ahem, down there. I’ll never
forget the look on his face when
he opened up the email. It’s the
same face you make when you
see intoxicated couples making
out on the subway. You think,
they’re clearly not in their right
minds, and they will regret this
and feel as appalled as I do
tomorrow when they come to.
And so will you if you divulge
things to your boss that should
never be discussed outside of an
exam room.
4. How Bad You Screwed Up
Once at a work happy hour,
A group of us were sharing
stories—you know, funny
happenings around the office, G-
rated embarrassing moments—
until one admission turned the
room silent. Turns out, it’s one
thing to accidentally break the
copier, but quite another to
damage client relationships. One
of my peers had a cocktail in
hand with pink liquid swishing
from side to side as she laughed
so hard she cried about the time
she accidentally tweeted about a
Bravo TV show on behalf of the
client on accident. As soon as she
saw our manager’s agitated
fluttering of the eyes, she
panicked—and ordered a bigger
drink to wallow in her sorrows.
She was a social media manager,
and I don’t blame her for
wanting to swim away in that
fruity drink of hers. If I had
offered up a reason for my
bosses to no longer trust my
judgment, I would have ordered
up another round for myself, too.
5. The Real Reason You Left
Your Last Job:
Acceptable reasons for leaving
your previous job for your
current one can be any number
of things: relocation, a career
switch, an urge to feel challenged
or an interest in a different
company culture. One thing that
is not a sufficient reason, and if
spoken could cause some
serious damage to your boss-
employee relationship? That you
were looking for something
“slower-paced, less challenging,
easier.”...
No comments:
Post a Comment