Boards
The realisation you're actually not that nice a person
So I have a new line manager at work. I'm not very pleased about this. She seems a nice person but doesn't seem that good at her job, has lots of ideas that are gonna hinder rather than help and seems to inadvertently manage to get my (and other people's backs up).
What worries me, however, is that I seem to have suddenly develop this absolute bastard streak. Twice today the following has happened:
a) She's asked me to do something
b) I've emailed her asking what the consequences of me not doing it are.
c) She's tried to insist it's compulsory
d) I've written a detailed and complex explanation of why it wouldn't be a good idea (citing moral problems with it if I can think of any)
e) She's referred the matter to my more senior managers*
f) I've at that point magnaminously climbed down leaving her having to appear grateful for me to agreeing to do something I could have just shut up and done earlier.
*I'd argue this was unnecessary in both instances and made it look like she had no authority
Especially given that I've always got on fine with the more senior managers I think this is probably completely undermining her authority and making her look bad. Much as I'm pissed off about her being in the job (or more specifically her job existing in the first place as we're all quite capable of working autonomously and don't really need a line manager anyway) I feel guilty about this.
All this has led me to the conclusion I'm actually a stubborn Machavellian twat when I want to be, which isn't a very nice realisation.
So has anyone else's worst side come out recently in a less longwinded and more interesting way?