Comment by nonobody | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nonobody | Hacker News Reader

I'm in a very very similar position, I got hired to lead a team in a flat style, months later the CEO said to me he will hire someone else to do this role to make me focus on my current project, let's call this GuyA-bigTitleA. I was ok with it (and it was ok at the beginning) before GuyA-bigTitleA turns into a control maniac who changed the flat into hierarchical, all the way to the point he wanted to sit next to me to tell me what to write in my own ticket, not just I'm a senior and technically miles ahead of him, but I hold several leadership designation and held several titles in the past.

I tried to communicate that with him but with no avail, months forward with all what that accompany including undermining/downplaying/credit taking/etc. in a close coordination with GuyB-bigTitleB, it escalated once to the point he shouted at me, insulted me in the middle of the office, it's when approached who hired me (the CEO) and told him this guy can no longer be my manager or I'm out. The CEO, being relatively reasonable guy trying all his best to keep the talents in his small business, apologized in his behalf (GuyA-bigTitleA never apologized till now after months of it happening), and promised to make fundamental changes, that was 7 months ago and nothing changed yet, GuyA and GuyB hold the highest rank in our division with access to all resources, communications, team, etc. and work in coordination to either set me up or trying all their best to justify firing me as they cannot do it directly, they even tried to hinder the project progress just to make a point that my skills are not on par (it was successfully delivered among other projects and I’m proud of that with all of what was happening) and I'm still at the bottom of this hierarchy, now they work persistently to “make me replaceable” at all cost.

While I’m usually resilience to stress, It was at some point exhausting in terms of mental health in addition to the stress that come with the work itself (engineering and robotics), and because I love (probably as other mentioned not falling in love is the key) robotics, I'm still kind of waiting for the CEO changes, part of me is saying he is stalling and will never change anything, and other part says otherwise he's just waiting for the "right moment". But I can totally relate to the story as I'm living it right now.

So you gave your CEO an ultimatum (guy can no longer by your manager or you're out), and then when he does nothing to resolve your situation, you backed down from the ultimatum? There are other robotics companies in the world.

That's what I'm debating right now, will the CEO change things or not, in two occasions in the past months he reaffirms that he will, and that what's holding me, it's temporary soon it will be clear whether he will do it or not.

And I agree there are other robotic companies, but the team (beside these two) is great, and I contributed a lot in its growth in the past 2.5 years -I'm now the oldest employee-, so trying my best to give it a chance, maybe at least until the holiday, I don’t want to regret it in the future that I rushed without giving a second chance.

Have an alternative job offer in hand so that you can leave on your own terms. I've been in similar situation in the past, and in hindsight if the top layer is toxic/incompetent, it eventually trickles down.

You most likely have a lot of valuable experience that many great robotics teams sorely need. At the very least you could start talking to your network, recruiters, and other companies to see what your worth is. You don't have to commit to anything but you are doing yourself a great disservice by not exploring other options and sticking to a place that doesn't seem to properly appreciate you.

Wow, this is eerily similar to my previous employer (even down to the industry!). I loved loved loved the product, my role in it's success, and the problems I was tasked with solving. Unfortunately, humans can take all of the fun out of robots.

I too pride my self in stress resilience, but at a certain point I realized the joy in my work was offset by the annoyance of interpersonal issues. Leaving the company was bittersweet. I was still going to work in robotics, but it certainly wasn't as "cool". Now that it's been a few months at my new gig, I realize my QoL is much better as I actually enjoy the people I primarily work with.

Providing ultimatums to upper management may cure your woes, but you have to be willing back up the consequences you promised. So if action isn't taken by the CEO you'll need to fulfill your promise of leaving, or at least get an offer to show you're serious. If things don't change when you show your strongest hand, that's definitely a sign it's time to leave.

7 months and no action... dude they are just milking you for your work ethic. GuyA can put you down and you will stand and deliver, what incentive does he have to not keep pulling the same move, why would CEO care if it gets results?

>GuyA can put you down and you will stand and deliver, what incentive does he have to not keep pulling the same move, why would CEO care if it gets results?

Care to elaborate, please? GuyA can't tell me what to do anymore since that incident, I report directly to the CEO right now.

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