Should I Help My Boss Succeed -- Or Let Her Fail?

Dear Liz,

I'm in an awkward position at work! I've been in the job for almost two years. I was hired into the company to transition our customers from a traditional sales model to a combination of online and off-line sales. Our salespeople are resisting this move because no one prepped them for it. I don't blame them.

I talk with them often about the problem. Now we have an e-commerce site that few of our customers know how to use, and no plan to transition them away from their email-and-telephone relationships with their regional sales reps to the new site.

That isn't the only problem. My boss is the Director of Marketing. My original boss quit when he saw that the senior leadership team was not open to trying new things. He is consulting on his own -- otherwise I would have followed him to his new company! When my boss left, they promoted our Merchandising Manager, "Sarah," into his job.

Sarah has less experience than half the people in our department but she's worked for this company for eight years, which is an eternity in this culture. She is nervous in her new job, understandably, and won't ask for help. She won't accept help if it's offered. She is floundering. Ironically I am doing well in my job if you only take my formal metrics into account.

I can see that the company is not moving nearly fast enough -- it's not just me who feels that way of course, but everyone in the Sales and Marketing team -- and that Sarah is the last person who's going to pull out of our tailspin, because she doesn't have a strategic viewpoint and wouldn't speak up even if she did.

I am conflicted. As a human being and a decent co-worker (I hope) I want to help Sarah but realistically, it would be better for the company and our customers if she followed her natural path and bombed in this job. If she doesn't take steps this year, the company will shut down the barely-used e-commerce site and who knows what plan they'll come up with then to save the company. By that time I'll be gone.

I could spend half my time at work advising Sarah (gently and carefully so as not to offend her -- it's exhausting!) and maybe help her find her way. Or, I could leave Sarah and the managers above her to their fate and focus on my own future.

For instance, I will accomplish a couple of important milestones in Q3 that will look great on my resume and position me well for my next role somewhere else. What is my moral obligation to Sarah and to the company when I can see that the chances for real improvement range between slim and none?

Thanks Liz! You are my HR hero --

Cameron

Dear Cameron,

I am sympathetic! For starters, it's incredibly hard to go to work every day and push a rock uphill. Secondly, Sarah in her anxious state is not likely to be an easy coaching client -- on top of which she is your boss!

Thirdly, a management team that would promote someone to Director of Marketing based on their seniority in the company versus more relevant attributes is not necessarily a team that will respond appropriately to Sarah's suggestions even if she finds the backbone to make them. So, the deck appears to be stacked against the changes you feel are necessary.

You take a paycheck from your company so you owe them your best every day. The question becomes "What is my best?" Is your best simply to do your job and otherwise hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil, even if the company disappears? Is your best to try as hard as you can to shout from the rooftops that things need to change, even if you feel your efforts will be in vain?

I  recommend that you start job-hunting now. Mobilize your network and get your Human-Voiced Resume up to date. How can you stay at a company once you've  lost faith? That would be cynical, and beneath you.

You can't ethically stay in your job to rack up impressive resume fodder when your work does nothing to solve the real problems that you know exist. You'll get a new job with or without the Q3 milestones you are working toward, and because a job search takes a while anyway, you may well get those additional feathers in your cap before you depart.

Your salary requires you to do your best at your job, but not to coach your boss when he or she has already rebuffed your efforts to help. If the company had wanted you to run the department they would have promoted you instead of Sarah. She took the job and she gets the salary and the title, so it's up to her to sink or swim. If the company is headed downhill it's in your best interest to get out of there sooner rather than later!

Have lunch soon with your ex-boss and get his advice on your upcoming stealth job search. The world is big. You'll  never grow your flame standing by while your poorly-equipped manager crashes and burns. Get out of that environment and into a place where you can leave your mark!

All the best,

Liz

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