Posted on 06/21/2013 2:05:23 PM PDT by Catmom
Just found out my new boss is someone I've worked with since she was a student about 15 years ago. She's always been a stellar employee and I don't question why she got the job. It's just that she's been known to throw her opinions around at work, especially with conservative coworkers.
For example, early last year, when she was still a house supervisor, I went to her and complained about the huge number of nurses in our hospital who refuse to speak English at work.
I only came to her to vent because we've know each other so long. She gave me an uncomfortable look and said, "Well, that's a very conservative opinion." Taken aback, I responded to her that my concern had nothing to do with politics because the hospital has an English only policy and it clearly wasn't being enforced. She stunned me further by telling me that she'd never heard of it, but that she would look it up.
Stunned, I shared this conversation with one of the charge nurses who has had to deal with ongoing complaints from patients and families about the same problem. I didn't intend to start trouble but word got around the hospital about this and the managers, thank goodness, had meetings with their staff about the English at work policy. I didn't get into trouble and, so far as I know, neither did my new boss, but I'm sure she hasn't forgotten this.
I have since had conversations with former coworkers of hers to the effect that she's pretty free in expressing her opinions and confronting those who disagree. But not in an obnoxious way; that's not her style. I just hope she'll have the good sense to focus on job performance and leave politics, her own and other's, out of her supervision of them.
Any advice you have to share will be much appreciated.
ignoring does a lot. people might push harder for awhile but eventually they get nothin’. so they move on.
Yes, you are correct. On the other hand, I am proud of my nephews, up there, although not as far to the right as I am (they are teens, these days), they seem to have a well balanced opinion.
She's a liberal. Count on it -- she'll easily lie when she needs to. Agenda uber alles.
If there is anything I’ve learned in the workplace, it’s keep your resume up to date and go on job interviews from time to time, making sure you can generate a bona fide offer now and again. It give you options, either to advance your situation, or to use leverage at your present position about issues you are uncomfortable with. Never take for granted that you can depend on permanence in employment or in marriage. It’s sad, but that’s the way it is.
Your feedback is wonderful. Plus I know I’m not alone in this problem. Keep it coming. We need each other.
Oh how fast they do grow !!! :-O. I have a lot of niece and nephews up in Seattle as well. All great kids and many are adults now.
Excellent news about their opinions. That gives me hope for our future. yet. Notice the label they gave you. THAT part I do find concerning. THe liberals have been so successful at exploiting the obvious weakness of the GOP and making it a dirty word. It is time for some serious change for us conservatives. I don't see this to be the fault of kids though.
One of Sequoyah101’s maxims is “Change it, Accept it or Leave it.”
Some things you can’t change... people is one of them. They have to change themselves and you may be there to help them when they are ready to change but not until they are ready themselves.
My advise is to look for a new place to go and don’t be hard headed about it. Don’t take the attitude that it is your place to keep, that she may change or that you will adapt. Some part of those things may happen in time but it is unlikely that you will thrive there. You have only one vote, with your feet.
In my nearly 4 decades of experience in the work place the thing most people, including myself, are guilty of is staying too long after the writing is on the wall by continuing to deny the facts of the matter. Deferred compensation / deferred benefits is a chain around your neck that prevents you from doing the right things.
Tough situation but this is my two cents.
word must have gotten out that she is a “fellow traveler” and she was promoted by like-minded superiors (our ‘betters’)
This is how they take over institutions
then you have to keep your mouth shut and your head down until you can get out or she moves on.
Do what you have to do, but the general conservative consensus on this thread seems to be “Roll over, give in and up, don’t stand up/BOHICA, let/’em win”. I guess you can’t argue with the policy that helped get us where we are today.
“word must have gotten out that she is a “fellow traveler” and she was promoted by like-minded superiors (our ‘betters)
I tend to agree. But I think it’s more like she’s wanted this from the beginning and has learned to play the game at a relatively young age.
Thanks for your reply. Actually, the way my nephew said it was more along the lines of “defender of the faith”, as opposed to a pejorative. Maybe that is why the young, indoctrinated minds of his friends exploded ! :)
With the exception of open political talk, she sounds like a good worker and reasonable person. It’s entirely possible she’ll realize that now she has a position of authority and needs to remain more guarded with her opinions. My advice is to wait and see (and not worry) - things may very well turn out just fine. Most bosses are more interested in employees that don’t cause issues rather than political allies.
This is excellent advice, especially when you know you are in a tense situation. Don't let yourself get blindsided and feel helpless after you are laid off five minutes before some important deadline that will affect your retirement.
Here's mine [my former tag-line].
Never attempt to explain yourself to a liberal. You're not the jackass-whisperer.
That's it. Period. Don't discuss ideology. Don't discuss politics. If she brings it up, ignore it. They're beyond reason. You just have to accept that since she's your supervisor.
“Most bosses are more interested in employees that don’t cause issues rather than political allies.”
I only hope you’re right. If that’s true, she’s got nothing to hold against me.
Only one way to find out. Definitively confute one of her positions, and note whether she admits defeat on said issue.
If she won't concede, put in for a transfer.
I worked in HR for a Tier I automotive stamping plant for 25 years until I was transferred to our corporate offices where I remained for the next 9 years.
At the plant level, personal politics was never an issue because our primary concern was manufacturing productivity and it was always union complaints against management and visa versa. In other words, we had more important things to think about than our co-workers' personal politics.
You on the other hand, work for a service provider, the hospital where you have to interact with co-workers and report to your supervisors. With the exception of the patients you deal with, that's all you do.
So here's my advice to you: Never, ever discuss politics with your new younger and idealistic supervisor. If you have any inclination whatsoever that she may be developing a hostile attitude towards you simply because of your political views then start recording a diary of every questionable conversation you may have with her.
She is your supervisor now right? Your performance reviews by her WILL BE INFLUENCED by her subjective view of you as a person who holds a different political opinion than hers rather then an idyllic objective analysis of your job performance. That's the biggest argument against performance reviews, keeping subjective and personal opinions out of the equation. That's human nature and you're not going to get around it in your profession especially when dealing with non-professional kids.
After almost 35 years with my company I eventually lost my job but during the last 5 months, expecting something was in the works, I kept a diary of everything that transpired and I ended up with 12 pages of documentation that I could have submitted to the state had I chosen to file an age discrimination case against my employer.
So here's my final advice: Don't discuss politics with libtards who have positions of authority over you.........
As a matter of caution, do not initiate political subjects and conversations, and when your boss does, from time to time point out that liberalism and conservatism are both valid political philosophies.
Liberalism is based to a large degree on benevolent feelings toward others and a desire to help them. This is commendable and makes liberalism especially appealing to the helping professions -- nursing, teaching, social work, and so on. Some major advances in American life have come at the urging of liberals.
Conservatism is also benevolent, but it is based not on feelings, but on hard facts that limit what good can be done in the world. Resources are limited, people tend to be self-interested and are sometimes mean, destructive, or evil, and adopting bad laws and policies can squander resources, destroy social trust, erode important institutions, and even wreck entire countries.
Liberals aim to make major changes that improve the lot of others and make a better and more just society. Conservatives prefer to assure that the good things be preserved, and that they run properly and improve incrementally. We do best by permitting both philosophies to be expressed and to pick and choose the best they have to offer on the merits.
In the American context, conservatives aim to preserve the freedoms and opportunities that America offers, which are based on our constitutional system, the bill of rights, the rule of law, and on traditional virtues.
Note also that, despite what liberals may think, conservatives are not hard-hearted or unsympathetic to others. Studies repeatedly show that conservatives give more in charitable donations and volunteer more for charitable work than liberals.
Why? Again, conservatism is a philosophy based not on grand feelings and gestures but on facts and small, practical steps.
If political conservations get too risky or tedious, one approach is to shut them down by diminishing their appeal. Do some internet research on your boss's favorite issues. Have an article or two from National Review or the Weekly Standard or some other good source at the ready, and, when pressed on an issue, offer it as an explanation of your views.
Liberals are usually flummoxed by having to deal with well stated, written refutations of their views. A few doses of that tends to curb their appetite for political gabbing. There is nothing more deflating to generous, liberal feelings than repeated doses of hard facts.
Ignore. Smile. Be the Happy Warrior. She will either have an epiphany or remain ignorant. She already knows you are conservative. You are living rent free inside her head. Don’t let it be the other way around.
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