Current Events > Your boss says you need to improve in an area where you know you excel at

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Has this happened to any of you? How do respond in this situation?

I made the mistake today of pushing back against my manager after they said I needed to improve in an area that I know Im better at than 95% of my co-workers. Instead of agreeing and avoiding drama I defended myself, but now I feel like shit about the situation (despite ending our meeting on good terms).

Was it improving on topic titles?

Well what did they say when you defended yourself?

I'm all for it and do it myself but you have to be 100% sure you're in the right and be able to prove it before you do that. If they find one little shit loophole to drag you back down they don't give two fucks about your opinion after that.

Just defending yourself is pointless nine times out of ten, because often when someone is doing this they are either meaninglessly cracking a whip to make it look like they're staying on top of things, or they are fucking with you because they don't like you.

The best thing to do if you feel like this is something they aren't saying offhandedly is to directly ask them what their expectation is, so that you have a metric you can meet and they themselves cannot complain or bullshit that you are still doing poorly. And if what they say is honestly unrealistic for whatever it is at that point, odds are you are in their sights for something so at least you know what is going on

nurleschka posted...

Was it improving on topic titles?

whats wrong with the topic title

Johnny_Nutcase posted...

Well what did they say when you defended yourself?

I'm all for it and do it myself but you have to be 100% sure you're in the right and be able to prove it before you do that. If they find one little shit loophole to drag you back down they don't give two fucks about your opinion after that.

It was really petty but ultimately I believe this conversation only happened because corporate wants our store to pick up the pace so my manager likely choose this situation at random in order to fill her quota. I bartend and apparently I was moving too slow when performing my closing duties, such as taking out the trash and restocking liquor bottles. If I moved any faster Id be speed walking, no one in our store moves at that pace. My own boss is obese and I easily out pace them when performing tasks. Its the micromanaging mixed with the absurdly inaccurate review of my performance which irk me.

Yeah you ever notice a lot of bosses are obese and crack the whip on everyone else while he eats 4 orders of Wendy's in his fat fuckin office? On his 3 hour lunch break.

MarcyWarcy posted...

Just defending yourself is pointless nine times out of ten, because often when someone is doing this they are either meaninglessly cracking a whip to make it look like they're staying on top of things, or they are fucking with you because they don't like you.

The best thing to do if you feel like this is something they aren't saying offhandedly is to directly ask them what their expectation is, so that you have a metric you can meet and they themselves cannot complain or bullshit that you are still doing poorly. And if what they say is honestly unrealistic for whatever it is at that point, odds are you are in their sights for something so at least you know what is going on

Totally agree with everything you said. I used to be one of those employees who would fight any kind of criticism, and as Ive gotten older Ive realized I need to be open minded on my performance and be receptive to all kinds of feedback. Im disappointed in myself because I feel like I reverted back to how I used to behave. Even though I strongly disagreed with my managers take, I wish I nodded my head and moved along.

Even when you know they are wrong, you just have to nod and be like "Yep, sure thing. I'll try to do better."

And then when they leave you think to yourself "Fucking moron doesn't know what they're talking about. Are you kidding me? I'm not The Flash, asshole. Why don't we switch positions, and then we'll see how fast you move?"

Just kick him right in the asshole

smile and nod until they go away

Your boss says you need to improve in an area where you know you excel at

sometimes they say this shit knowing youre good at what you do, but they got a goal and are willing to push you to the breaking point over it

headgames is Management 101