Does Your Boss See You As A Threat?

RRRRRING!

MOLLY: That's going to be Nick.

LIZ: You want a cup of tea?

MOLLY: Sure. (Picking up phone and pressing Speaker): Molly Campbell!

NICK: Hi, Molly! Hi, Liz!

LIZ: (Returning with tea) Hi Nick! How are you?

NICK: Been better.

MOLLY: Fill us in.

NICK: You remember what you guys were doing on March 7th?

LIZ: Nope.

MOLLY: We were in Chicago. What about you, Nick?

NICK: I had lunch with my boss that day, and she said "I'm so glad I hired you." That's not even four months ago, and boy, has the worm turned.

LIZ: Those worms turn fast sometimes. What happened?

NICK: I started this job last August. The March lunch was something like a six-month review, but it wasn't really a review, because I do my own thing. The position is a new role in the company - Channel Marketing Manager. My boss Stephanie is the Marketing Director.

MOLLY: A new position for Channel Marketing? What did they do before you got there?

NICK: The company is twelve years old, and they've always sold direct to our corporate clients. They got to a hundred and ten million in sales that way. They knew there was a lot of business they weren't getting - smaller companies who buy from resellers. So they moved one of their Sales guys, Brian, into a new Channel Development role early in 2013 to build the reseller channel. He did a great job and the channel was on track to bring in ten million in 2013 sales when I got here. We ended up at 12 million, and everyone was ecstatic.

LIZ: So that justified your position.

NICK: Yes, and between me and Brian we've tripled that run rate since last August. And that's the tip of the iceberg. We should hit thirty million in channels sales this year and maybe fifty million next year. I couldn't be more excited. But now Stephanie is really down on me. Her attitude toward me has completely changed.

MOLLY: What is Stephanie's story?

NICK: She's the Marketing Director, she's been here since the beginning and they love her. She's really a marcom person but they gave her all of marketing, and I figured I could make it work. When she interviewed me, she was so excited. She said "We're gonna have a lot of fun." It was fun for the first six months. Since then - straight downhill.

LIZ: How so?

NICK: She ignores me, and when she talks to me she picks at things. "Don't you have the newsletter schedule yet? Don't you have an updated reseller list?" She's a detail person, and I'm not, but look at my results! The CMO is excited. The CRO is excited.

MOLLY: Let's back up and get the cast of characters.

NICK: Barry is the CEO, a fantastic guy and a visionary. He started the company with a couple of other guys. One of them is the Chief Revenue Officer, Stephanie's boss's boss, Rahul.

MOLLY: Okay, so we've got Barry the CEO, and Rahul the CRO. He's got Sales and Marketing under him?

NICK: Yep. Alicia is the CMO. She works for Rahul. Alicia is Stephanie's boss. So listen to this.

LIZ: Tell!

NICK: I'm in Alicia's office yesterday. Alicia is our CMO and Stephanie's boss. I stopped in to tell her that our biggest reseller just signed a joint venture deal with an Australian distributor. Very exciting opportunity for us. We talked for two minutes and I left. Right outside Alicia's office is a coffee station, and I'm getting myself a cup of coffee, not trying to eavesdrop, but just then Rahul walks past me and into Alicia's office. Rahul is her boss, the CRO.

MOLLY: Okay.

NICK: Alicia says right away "Nick was just in here telling me about Castle Systems and their JV in Australia. The opportunity is massive. Nick is on it and it's very cool." Rahul says, "Best hire you've made yet, Alicia." He meant me. I'm pouring a cup of coffee six feet away. I was thrilled. Alicia says "He and Stephanie make a good team." Rahul says "Not clear who should be working for whom." I thought I was going to die. The last thing I need is more stress with Stephanie. If she picks up on that vibe...

MOLLY: IF she picks up? She's picked it up, Nick. That's why she's freaking.

NICK: So listen to this. This morning Stephanie says to me, "Alicia asked me for a Channel Marketing Plan." I said "You know, I've been working on a plan. I can send you what I've got." She cut me off. She said "That's okay. I'm good."

LIZ: And there you have it.

MOLLY: Nick, try to feel compassion for Stephanie. She's in terror. She's afraid you want her job.

NICK: I don't want her job. I'd hate her job. I've told her that.

MOLLY: Fear isn't rational. She's in panic mode. She can't hear you.

NICK: So I give up trying to help with her channel marketing plan, which is an assignment I could do in my sleep and in fact I do that assignment in my sleep, obsessively, all the time. Stephanie says "I need to ask you to tone it down in our Sales & Marketing meetings. If I need you to explain something, I'll ask you to, but otherwise you can let me answer the Marketing questions. You can take a backseat."

LIZ: She didn't.

NICK: She told me to stop talking in our meetings. I was gobsmacked. I just nodded.

MOLLY: So lay out the problem as you see it right now.

NICK: The problem as I see it? Molly, my boss told me not to speak in meetings. She told me she doesn't need my help with a report that she's laughably unqualified to create on her own. It's a crisis.

MOLLY: It's a crisis for Stephanie, Nick. Not for you. Your job is to breathe through it.

NICK: How do you see this situation playing out?

MOLLY: The earth is moving under Stephanie's feet. She's in phase transformation. The old world is gone, the one where her life was all about marketing campaigns and schedules and everyone loved her for it. Maybe her role will change, maybe not, but it doesn't matter to you. You stay the course and you'll be fine.

NICK: I'll be fine sitting silently in meetings?

LIZ: This is rear guard stuff, Nick. She's trying to stave off the inevitable. When she hired you, she thought you'd stay in your little corner and teach her what you know about channels, and her world wouldn't change.

NICK: She refers to me as her Utility Man. It's kind of insulting.

MOLLY: It's sad, Nick. She didn't feel the tectonic plates moving. Stephanie will be fine and you'll be fine. Your job is to rise above the drama and ignore it.

NICK: But this thing about being quiet in meetings...

MOLLY: That's going to take care of itself. Go to your next meeting and see what happens. Someone's going to ask you a question that only you can answer, and you'll answer it. Stephanie isn't going to say anything. What could she say? If she pushes you on that ridiculous idea, it'll only make her look bad.

NICK: I feel like the executives, although I revere them in many ways, have kind of set me up here.

LIZ: They're inviting you to rise up out of the low-level political muck and be like them, Nick. You're an executive, too. You have a lot of influence in that place, more than you know. Use it. Don't get down in the mud with Stephanie. Smile, nod, and do your thing.

NICK: This is helpful. I'm seeing it. Sail above it, right?

MOLLY: Your path is already set. You know what you have to do. You see where the win is and how to get it, you and Brian together. Just keep at it. Stephanie will send her poor little channel marketing report to Alicia and either Alicia or Rahul will ask "Who wrote this?" and she'll say "Me" and they'll say "Why didn't you consult Nick?" and it'll all be great learning for everyone involved.

NICK: I don't want to be responsible for Stephanie losing her job. She hired me.

LIZ: Nobody's losing their job, Nick, if you ask me. This is normal stuff in fast-growing companies. Every so often you have to shake things out to see who's best at what. There's a job for Stephanie in that place. Maybe you move out from under her - that's my guess. Maybe you and Brian start a new department to look after the channel.

NICK: This is making sense. Stephanie's afraid. It's not personal. It's just stressful for both of us!

MOLLY: You're moving into the big leagues, Nick. Don't get sucked into the drama. There's a disturbance in the Force around Stephanie now. When your role and your place in the structure gets sorted out again, she'll settle down.

NICK: God, please let it be soon.

MOLLY: Let it go. You're fine. You're in your power, your flame is growing and people know what you're capable of. Rejoice! The more you engage with Stephanie in her panicky flailings, the worse it'll be for both of you. Fog it, Nick. Fog is your best friend right now.

NICK: Dang, I'm glad I've got you ladies in my corner! Do you know what's ironic?

MOLLY: What?

NICK: Stephanie is the one who turned me on to you.

LIZ: How's that?

NICK: She brought one of Liz's columns into a staff meeting late last year. She made copies of it. She said "You guys should read Liz Ryan, she's really onto something."

LIZ: We all vacillate between fear and trust, Nick. It's a wave motion. There's nothing wrong with Stephanie. We've all been there.

NICK: You've told someone not to speak in a meeting before?

MOLLY: The point is that you're on your path, and Stephanie is on her path and there's no need for you to focus on and get dragged into her concerns about your rising flame. That can't help her or you.

NICK: I get it. I was thinking about talking to Alicia....

MOLLY: Don't do it. You're not that guy, and there's no benefit. Alicia would have noticed the energy shift already if she had the antennae for it. One month from now this is going to be different.

NICK: You're right. What do you say all the time? "You can't make people fear you less than they do. You can only show them the way?"

LIZ: Dig it.

MOLLY: How's your little girl?

NICK: Two-year-old birthday this weekend, can you believe it? She loves horses, so we're having pony rides.

MOLLY: Send us pictures!