Oftentimes, a little push is the only thing it takes to topple the facade of power presented by someone abusing it. They want you to think there's nothing you can do to circumvent their authority, but they forget that they're just managing an IT department at a medical center, and their authority really isn't all that far-reaching at all. So that one little push (or notifying their boss) is all it takes to reveal the man behind the curtain. This IT worker was responsible for issuing equipment t…

Normally, you might expect that being the best at something means that you'll be effectively the first selected, akin to it being a race, and by being simply being undisputed best, you would, of course, be the one to win. Well, that's not how races or any competitions work, and it's the reason they're held in the first place, and the prize isn't just awarded to the person who currently holds whatever record is most relevant… There are so many other factors and things that can happen on the day…

While it might be tempting to wait out an impending layoff or quit rather than stomach unfair treatment or the foul nature of your egotistical boss… Without a doubt, the best time to find a new job is when you're still employed. You'll be undoubtably less stressed due to more financial stability allowing you to be more selective and find the right role. During interviews this feeling of security allows you to come across more confidently, which apart from making you more likely to get another r…

One of the most respected ways to lead is from the front. Of course, you may be the first one to catch an arrow or a spear to the throat—dooming everyone who was relying on your command and is now floundering, leaderless. But, if you pull it off and make it through the battle unscathed you can sure as heck bet that the troops will love you far more than they would had you been in your command tent at the back of the field. The difference here and the limitation of this anecdote is that there ar…

Friendly reminder to get your PTO confirmed before getting non-refundable flights! This employee's girlfriend learned that the hard way. People in the comments section were a bit tough on her for putting pressure on her boyfriend to make his boss refund every penny of their planned vacation after the boss denied the employee's PTO request. Still, we have reserved at least some sympathy for her. It's not like this employee wasn't entitled to that time, and while he wants to advance his career, h…

Being faced with the brutal decision of whether or not you'll take a demotion or be fired is not easy and it's an even harder choice to make. It would be easy to just want to up and walk away rather than face the humiliation demotion. But, unless you're in a secure financial position and have a lot of connections in your industry, you'll probably want to consider taking the demotion while you quietly go about looking for another job. After all, there's no better time to look for a job than when…

Micromanagers usually come in two shapes; the first is a recently promoted technical worker with a deep understanding of the work but with poor interpersonal skills and a deep drive for perfectionism who can't bear to let go of the fact they're no longer doing the work themselves anymore, they cling to their methods depriving their workers of agency and limiting their ability to produce. The second is an externally hired career manager who has no understanding of the actual work and compensates…

The way this stubborn CEO handled the fallout of this situation says quite a bit about his leadership style. This formerly in-person work environment went fully remote a few years ago and opted to stay that way, which was a big win for the 32 employees who fought for this change. That being said, there was a catch: the CEO enforced silly idle time requirements, which resulted in heavy monitoring of their productivity on Microsoft Teams. It got to the point where employees were regularly shamed…

There's nothing worse than having the serenity of a good (or at least tolerable) job disrupted by a terrible new boss, whether it's an external hire who doesn't seek to understand the organization and it's processes before changing them or an internal promotion who has a chip on their shoulder and a grudge against their former colleagues. There's not much you can do when faced with them except grin and bear it—or you can do what this worker did and walk off the job rather than tolerating your b…

Every day, after getting ready and making the short journey, we head to the dark, gloomy, and sad office where we are supposed to spend almost eight hours doing some of our best work. The quality of your work is determined by the individual overseeing you, not by your title. It is up to them whether you will enjoy or resent your time spent working for the company. The boss is the one who rides to tremendous heights, sets rules, and keeps things under control. That being said, if, like us, you t…

This, folks, is how to get other people to follow your lead. Not only was this dishwasher justified in calling out toxic management for their incessant outbursts, but he chose to do it in the best way: a group text with the entire staff in the same chat. And oh, what a group chat message it was! It's the kind of major confrontation that could only inspire groupthink and spark a subsequent craze of mass quitting. Here's hoping we get an update from the original poster explaining the details of w…

When working with a manager who is both incompetent and egotistical, it's probably a good idea to be cautious and take defensive measures… like maintaining a paper trail that can easily disprove any trumped up charges laid against you. It's always best to be on your toes and have a backup prepared, as they could turn on you at any moment should you question one of their decisions or even be too proficient and simply become too much of a threat. This means ensuring that your paper trail could st…

Appearance is important when it comes to your working life—well, really any time you're relying heavily on first impressions and social perception. It's an unfortunate fact that remains one all the same: The book is often judged by its cover. This extends past basic aesthetics of dress and into body language and the way we communicate, giving others a wholly inaccurate impression of our trustworthiness and competency for a role or task. To make matters worse, everyone has their own understandin…

Mistakes and bad decisions happen, it's just a part of the decision making process. As Thomas Edison, the inventor of the lightbulb, famously said, “'I have not failed, but found 1000 ways to not make a light bulb." The quote and attribution varies, but it's usually something along those lines. And that remains true, you don't know and can't learn until you pick a direction and try, but where this becomes an issue is when people and organizations obstinately refuse to course correct, refusing t…

Ah, nepo babies! They never fail to lean into their entitlement when it suits them. Here, we have a college-aged dude whose father essentially founded a company to give his son experience. This Redditor , one of the only full-time employees at said company, had been collaborating closely with their employer on an eLearning course, which was a time-consuming hands-on project for the both of them. However, when it came time for the boss's son to apply for summer jobs, he called the Original Poste…

The business world is not always kind. In order to attract the attention of potential employers, you must not only stand out from the competition but also outperform every other application seeking the exact same position. In other words, your only options are to play and win the corporate game or to fail horribly. To put it plainly, the game is tedious and never-ending. An employee who was taken aback is described in the story below. The original poster (OP) has been actively participating in…