Barely Managing To Manage

We have a sales manager who is a bit of a control freak, so disorganized she couldn’t find her way out of a paper bag, and highly insecure. She likes the perception of looking busy and like she is on top of things, and as a result often blames others for her being unable to complete certain tasks. She also hates anyone who questions her authority.

This sales manager even made it her mission to try and get me fired for being “mouthy” because I had the utter audacity to not back her up in a client meeting after repeatedly telling her in private that we did not have the bandwidth to do what the client was asking. Basically, she wanted to fire me because I refused to compromise my ethics to get a contract so she could get the commission and allow her to throw me under the bus down the line when it ultimately did not work out. Obviously, she lost.

My well-meaning boss will often assign me portions of the sales manager’s work to “surprise” her. Usually, this is after she feels slighted and, bless his soul, is supposed to be an olive branch to this finicky, immature woman to placate her and make things “run smoothly.” I know it isn’t a good idea, but I am not going to say no because he is my boss and it usually means he wants it done. I usually complete the task and send it off to him for feedback, and then he insists I walk it down to her in her office.

The response is always the same.

Sales Manager: “Who the h*** told you to do this?!”

She rants for five minutes about how I shouldn’t be wasting my time on this and how she almost had it done.

Me: “[Boss] did. He wanted to surprise you.”

Sales Manager: “Oh. Okay, then.”

Me: “…”

I leave without an apology for being sniped at or a thank you for doing her job for her. And of course, she takes credit despite being unable to do this task for the past two weeks and not changing a thing, because why wouldn’t she?