I’ve complained about my boss from time to time on this blog, but recently I saw something that shows me why he should be in the position he’s in. 

We have this project we’re working on — I’m tangentially attached to it because one of my guys is assigned to it — that is a mess at the management level. There are a ton of issues and they’re causing more work and stress to land on my guy and his direct peers. Well, recently my boss decided to take a week and go to the job site to get them back on track.

I’m in the management group chat for the project — limited just to managers and above, and including directors and senior directors. For the entire week he was there, he was applying smackdowns left and right, basically calling out bad behavior and poor work practices among management that was causing problems for the guys who do the actual work (I say “guys” because in this case the team happens to be all men). It’s been really gratifying to see him stick up for my guy and his peers, calling out things that are making the project worse, and proposing changes that, when adopted, will make things run better and more smoothly. 

My boss can be a pain, and he’s not very good at providing positive feedback, but as I’ve seen while he’s been on-site, he really does care about getting the job done right and protecting the people who are ultimately under him. So that was nice to see. 

I’m probably going to be stuck in this role for a while. I do keep applying for other jobs, but I’m not getting any nibbles anywhere (which is disheartening and makes me less likely to apply for more jobs) and anyway I do work for a good company that is growing, making money, promoting from within, and not laying people off. I don’t particularly fit in my role on a lot of levels, and that’s from where my unhappiness stems. Although recently I met with the team in our bi-weekly one-on-ones and I felt good that I was able to positively impact my team. I also had to coach someone a few weeks ago and although he thought he was in trouble I was able to reassure him that (a) he wasn’t (b) this was all about making him a better version of himself (c) I trust him to get the work done. He happens to be one of my favorite guys on my team (which, again, is all men — although the company has a lot of women on the payroll there aren’t a lot in my division) and I want him to succeed, and helping him to do that warms my heart. 

So, y’know, maybe my job isn’t all bad.