Reindeer Games
Ouch. It’s bad enough when a likeable, smart executive calls you out during your own meeting, because he has no idea what you’re talking about.
But let’s make matters worse: His direct reports—the same ones you’ve unsuccessfully attempted to engage with over three months—are feigning glances of incredulous curiosity at one another. “Whatever in the world can she be talking about?”
Now, throw your boss into the room.
I hate it when colleagues play dirty at work, and I hate it even more when they play their hands so childishly. I get paid decent money for what I do, but not enough to revisit my high school years.
The temptation is always there, of course, to kick back. Thank God that e-mail strings and ignored meeting requests are stubborn to erase. I could have suspended the agenda, thrown my computer screen up on a wall, and shown the executive every e-mail message and meeting request ignored by his clueless team. The effort to work together for something greater never faltered, even when I drove by cubes and was met with smirks of, “Oh, yeah, that’s not important right now.”
But I didn’t. I instead spent 30 seconds stepping back, quickly outlining the strategy. When the exec’s head began to bob enthusiastically, I proceeded with the agenda, winking at my boss.
She knowingly smiled. Good thing, she knew how frustrated I’d been with this lot of morons. And she quietly visited the exec afterward, sharing my attempts and frustrations.
Too bad there aren’t greater consequences for stupidity. For now, I’ll settle for this exec holding his team’s feet to my fire. I win.
You wanted to be a member of the most powerful clique in school. If I wasn’t already the head of it, I’d want the same thing. —Heathers (1988)


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