It is fucking impossible to work with Bethany. Instead of being a team player, she’s an ego-driven, self-serving, arrogant, superficial little floozy. She regularly empowers herself to bulldoze over me by hijacking my responsibilities and compromising my professional reputation. In fact, she purposely intimidates everyone on the team by bullying her conceited self-superiority into their work, too. Before I embarrass everyone with a psychotic blow-up, I plan to do the adult thing and raise my middle finger high to everyone:
I quit, bitches!
At first, working with Bethany was an absolute pleasure. Her enthusiasm was infectious – hence my Stepped-Up Award nomination. However, after a few weeks, her passion transformed into manipulation, control, and an aggressive play for power. Instead of competing with Bethany for control, credit or recognition during team meetings or in front of clients, I remained silent in the background. After all, it was best to allow the narcissist to take center stage. Meanwhile, rumors were rampant that Bethany didn’t like me and refused to work with me.
In a gallant attempt to remedy the situation, I followed the conflict the resolution procedures outlined in the Employee Handbook. However, based on the circumstances, I deemed it was best not to confront Bethany directly. Instead, I approached the person both of us reported to – Jake.
Jake, I have concerns about working with Bethany. She intrudes on my responsibilities and discredits me in front of the team and in front of clients. Is my job in jeopardy? It appears she’s taking over my role.
No, Dave. Your job is not in jeopardy. Excuse me, but I have a meeting to get to.
And that was it.
I expected more from my direct supervisor. I expected more from the Director of Client Services. Instead, my concerns were casually brushed off as meaningless. Meanwhile, I proactively took contemporaneous notes to document specific examples of Bethany’s steam-rolling bullying for future reference.
From a client and management perspective, I agree: Bethany is knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and engaging. However, from a coworker perspective, these traits damage team morale. In fact, the entire Client Services Team met with Jake intervention-style during a hastily scheduled meeting to discuss Bethany’s intrusive traits and their detrimental effects. Finally, I felt empowered – I had a team of five co-workers standing with me in agreement.
Jake, we are concerned about Bethany’s bullying attitude. She intrudes on our work. Her ego is damaging to the team, our clients, and ultimately, the company.
What do you expect me to do?
Although spoken in a politically correct manner, this was the team’s reaction:
WTF? We expect you to fix this shit, Jake! What the fuck do you expect to do? Let it ride? This is more than one isolated incident. This is more than one person crying wolf. This is the entire team you supervise – crying out together – in one united voice. It is a desperate attempt to bring a detrimental situation to your attention. Fix it, Jake. It’s your fucking job.
Duh.
Finally, Jake reluctantly said;
I guess I’ll talk to her.
A few hours afterward the team’s intervention, Jake met with me individually. In a hasty discussion, he assured me he would speak to Bethany once again to clarify our roles. His actions, however, immediately discredited his promises: He shunned me, sidestepped me, and continued to empower Bethany with questions, concerns, and tasks about my assigned projects – further enabling Bethany’s ambitions. Because the obvious favoritism wasn’t going to be addressed, I was forced to search for a new job. After all, it is impossible to regain credibility once it’s been rejected by the boss.
It wasn’t long before I began to see the underlying signs that sparked my initial job-insecurity. After all, I sat in the cubicle directly across from Bethany. First, I noticed Jake’s superficial compliments and exaggerated melodies of gooey expressions every time he approached her. Along with silly blushing and sparkling eyes, Jake would often deep-dive into her personal zone in an obvious effort to feed her ego. In fact, his middle-school style flirtations became embarrassing. In the end, it was downright disturbing to watch a middle-aged man eagerly throw himself at a young, pretty co-worker and reward her with prestige, recognition, and merit. Because Bethany eagerly returned Jake’s teenage flirtations, she was awarded the Golden Ticket of Power – at my expense.
In the short run, Bethany’s extraordinary passion for control and her malicious manipulation to empower herself paid off. While Jake and Bethany continue their flirtatious games with giddy delight, rumor has it that many team members continue to be pissed off. After all, who likes the teacher’s pet?
I wish you luck, Bethany. Daily, I pray to the Karma Gods that your day will come. You won the battle, but you will eventually lose the crusade.
Meanwhile, I’m moving on to a new career – far away from the teenage-style drama and dysfunction. I’m an adult. I will do the adult thing and raise my middle finger high to everyone:
I quit, bitches!
