The list we built outlined the following issues, with a couple specific examples beneath each in case we were put on the spot. It went something like this:

Does Not Hold Himself Accountable/ Always Blaming Others for His Mistakes

• For example, he blamed one of my co-workers for ordering too many materials, when he was the one who approved the order.


• On another occasion, he told me to “proof better next time” when he sent an email with a typo out to our customers. When I told him that I had never been given this content to proof, he pointed the finger at the graphic designer for not catching the error.

Does Not Follow Processes

• Jumps around the approval process, making additional unnecessary changes after final sign off.


• Intentionally cuts people out of the loop.


• Never uses the proper channels to submit a marketing request.

Does Not Plan Ahead

• Everything is reactive.
  


• Always makes us drop everything for his emergency last minute requests which could have been easily foreseen with just a little bit of planning.
  

Micromanages

• After assignments have been completed, he cuts people out of the loop and then redoes everything. (Especially the writing!) This is a very inefficient use of time.


• His exceptionally poor edits cause twice the time and effort as I have to be brought back into the loop by other team members so I can rewrite everything he has edited. Simply put, he CANNOT write!!! Although this occurs on an almost daily basis, here one classic example: He changed the sentence “Excite students about their future” to “Excite the future of students”. (WTF is “excite the future” supposed to mean?)

Miscommunication/Lack of Communication

• Never provides clear instruction.


• Often does not answer questions in emails, or will respond to questions with completely irrelevant comments.
  

Does Not Show Any Respect to His Team

• Does not value our experience by allowing us to do the jobs we are paid to do. Instead he does everything his way, making changes that only make things worse.


• Always shows up late to meetings.


• Often drops off the line in conference calls without notice.


• Always multi-tasks when on conference calls, answering other emails and not paying attention to the topics being discussed. This means that the rest of the team has to go over everything twice to catch him up to speed. It also explains why he never knows what projects we’re working on.


• Takes days off without telling anyone on the team.
  


• Constantly interrupts, cuts people off (he always says "Fine, fine, fine, fine..." until you stop talking) and does not listen.
  


• Treats his team as though we are stupid.

As you can tell, we certainly have more than enough ammo. Honestly, this guy is an incompetent manager in every sense of the word.

We headed into the conference room, where CEO was munching on an oversized chocolate chip cookie and gulping down his Diet Dr. Pepper.

“Do you know why we’re here?” Graphic Designer (GD) asked.

“Un petit peu.” CEO answered, flexing his francais skills. (We’re under the impression that he thinks all Canadians understand French. Ha.)

We all stared at each other, trying to decide who would begin and how. GD, the bravest of us three, shrugged and cut to the chase, “We are here because we’re having major problems with Manager.”

She pointed out the history of how we went to VP last fall, and how things only improved for a little while when VP was around to rein him in… but shortly after, everything returned to the unacceptable status quo. Rather than taking our constructive criticism, Manager brushed it off as though we didn’t know what we were talking about. Instead he ended up punishing us all with crappy reviews for going over his head.

We pointed out that while we don’t think Manager is evil, he is just not suited for the job. “Management is a talent.” GD said, to which CEO disagreed. CEO shared a story about his first time managing a large team, and how he was informed that he was not doing a good job. With management styles, one size does not fit all, and you have to learn to accommodate your team to get the most out of them. CEO said that when he was first told that he wasn't a good manager, he went up to each individual on his team and personally apologized and asked what he could do to be a better manager. He then made an effort to use the advice he was given... and they all lived happily ever after.

While we appreciated the moral of the story, the three of us agreed that Manager will never learn. He was given the chance to improve his management techniques – or lack thereof -- and instead he merely scoffed at the truth. Sure, ideally it might be nice to send Manager to some sort of management training course, but this is more a matter of personality. He is not willing to accept the fact that there is room for improvement. After all, we are his insignificant peons, what do we know anyway?

CEO asked, “You know, I’ve always found it very dysfunctional that they would promote someone in LA to manage a team of people in BC. Is that part of the problem? Do you really need someone in house?”

Direct Mail Coordinator (DMC) and I shook our heads while GD blurted, “No.”

CEO was taken aback, “Wow! You didn’t need to think too long and hard about that answer.”

I chimed in, “A good manager can manage from anywhere. Our issues go beyond face to face contact. It wouldn’t make a difference if he was here or there, we’d always have the same problems that we have now.”

GD added, “I have many contract clients who I have never met and we work great together.” 'Nuff said.

We made our way down our list, stating specific examples as CEO's brows would raise and fall. His head stayed firmly planted on his chin as he sat and listened. As we addressed the issue of how Manager cuts people out of the loop, CEO piped up, “Yes… I was going to say… I’ve noticed two very distinct styles of writing coming out of marketing… And one of them… well, let's just say that if you catch me on a bad day… “

I shook my head in frustration and could feel my face heat up. This is a real pain point of mine, so I didn't hold back. “He always rewrites everything I do! Then if people complain, Manager points the finger back at me since I’m the writer. You know, I have got thick skin. You can hack apart anything I’ve written, as long as it’s constructive. But his edits are never constructive… he thinks he is a writer and just makes edits for the sake of making them, and they’re always awful. This leaves me with twice the work because GD or DMC have to bring me back into the loop so I can fix everything that he has written. However, a lot of the time he just goes ahead and sends stuff out without any of us seeing it, and everyone thinks I wrote it. He makes me look bad and it’s embarrassing!”

CEO actually looked sympathetic as I'm sure he could tell that I am genuinely embarrassed over Manager’s horrible writing being passed off as mine. I mean, seriously, if I constantly wrote nonsensical sh*t, why the heck would I have been hired as a writer? His writing is more than spelling mistakes and run on sentences... it's just not English! Excite the future... common!!

Over the course of our hour-plus meeting, we explained how MarComm used to be a well oiled machine and now every day is a constant struggle. When CEO asked us how he could make MarComm into that well-oiled machine again, our exchanged glances said it all.

"Gotcha," CEO chuckled.

We explained how we often have to find ways to work around Manager by cutting him out of the loop just to ensure that things are done right. Finally the words were articulated loud and clear, "Get rid of Manager -- problem solved."

CEO commented, “I’m surprised you all haven’t quit.” He seemed impressed that we’ve hung on as long as we have with such a crappy Manager, and expressed how work should be a fun place to be since it’s such a big part of one's life. If you’re dreading going to work, it’s not healthy. (Not that I actually dread work… although I think I certainly would dread it if Manager worked in this office instead of living in LA.)

CEO shared a big long speech about his vision for the company, yadda, yadda, yadda, and then eventually brought us back to the subject at hand. “So tell me, are you three speaking on behalf of the Marketing team?”

We looked at him wide-eyed and laughed in unison, “We *are* the marketing team... or at least what’s left. People are never replaced and we are just expected to absorb, absorb, absorb." The look of disbelief on his face, I thought the man was going to fall off his chair.

CEO added, “A company of our size generally should spend 25% of its budget on sales and marketing… if that were the case, and it's only you three, you ladies must be rich!” I shouldn’t need to tell you that big cynical laughs ensued. For the second time, CEO shook his head and said, “I’m surprised you all haven’t quit.”

Finally, we got a form of resolution that I was not expecting, when CEO stated, “I have my hierarchy of priorities that need to get dealt with, and I thought that since Marketing was running fine, that it could wait. But apparently it can't, so I think I’m going to have to bump this item up on my list. If the three of you can hang on for just one more month without quitting, I promise that I will get some new leadership in place for your team. Just give me thirty days… If I haven’t made a change, then call me and say “Thirty days are up -- we’ve held our end of the bargain, now where’s yours?” Although I hope you won’t have to call me, because I now know something needs to be done. This will be my priority, because you shouldn’t have to suffer any longer like this.”

Jeez Louise, I swear I must’ve been smiling like the Cheshire cat. I just hope n' pray that he will stick to his word.

After some more rah-rah-rah inspirational talk, the four of us headed out of the meeting room. CEO was already a good 10 or 15 minutes late for his next meeting and a couple of my co-workers lingered patiently in the hall. Even so, as we left, CEO abruptly changed his mind, “No wait… just a minute, just a minute… come back in here for a second.” We turned around and went back into the room. CEO closed the door behind us and took me by the arm, pulling the four of us close together… I swear to gawd, I thought he was going to do a group hug… seriously. Instead he put his hands up to his chin in a sincere prayer-type fashion and said, “It’s not easy to call a meeting like this. You did it once before and you were punished for it. It is very brave of you all to do it again, and I am so happy you felt comfortable enough coming to me to address these issues. It shows that you actually care and have the passion to want to improve things around here. I promise you that you will not be punished for stepping forward this time... instead you will be rewarded.”

Amen to that!

27 days and counting… I sure hope he's a man of his word.

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