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Dr. John Burton LL.B. M.B.A. M.Div. Ph.D. is an ethicist, mediator, lawyer and theologian. John is currently located in Prince Rupert, B.C., Canada, working with Canada's aboriginal communities.

In spite of all my skills and experience, I am at the bottom of the office totem pole...

September 2005

Dear Office-Politics,

Two months ago I accepted a position as an information specialist in a not-for-profit organization affiliated with a university. The work culture is very academic in nature with very few people having any practical experience in the private sector. Lately I've been having some troubles with a colleague at work. We have different supervisors from different departments and yet we are expected to work together as a team. Suffice to say, I don't have any authority over her and, likewise, she doesn't have any authority over me.

Unfortunately, a person's date of entry plays a determining role in the pecking order at work. Even though I have a master's degree and more than a decade of solid experience working as a junior executive, my rival can still trump me with her one year of undergraduate studies and her negligible experience because she's already been with the organization 10 months prior to my arrival.

In spite of all my skills and experience, I am at the bottom of the office totem pole.

To date I've already averted four imminent disasters but this hasn't raised my stature or earned me any respect - instead it has only served to highlight the incompetence of my peers and provoke feelings of jealousy and hostility. Even worse, when my supervisor is drawn into the fray her immediate reaction is to completely ignore my side of the story and simply accuse me of not being a good team player.

It seems the only viable solution is for me to dumb down my work performance, make myself as subservient and invisible as possible, and take every conceivable proactive measure possible to ensure I won't be blamed when an incompetent colleague further up the totem pole screws up on a shared task.

Please help!

Low Man on Totem Pole

Dear Low Man on Totem Pole,

The situation in which you find yourself is not uncommon for new employees. It takes a while to learn the culture of an organization and to find a
comfortable way of working with others, particularly when the lines of authority are not clear.

You describe your supervisor as criticizing you as not being a good team player when she is "drawn into the fray."  Naturally this may leave you
feeling vulnerable and unsupported.  Trying to resolve underlying issues, such as unclear lines of authority, is difficult to do in the midst of a crisis.  The first line of approach to improving the situation that I would suggest is to make an appointment with your supervisor to discuss the matter, when there is no crisis looming.

Find a time when there are likely to be few distractions and sit down with her to explain that you need help clarifying lines of authority and
accountability.  Your concern, it seems to me, is that you may be held accountable for work errors that arise because of the work of others over
whom you have no authority. 

Part of a supervisor's task is to be clear about lines of accountability and authority.  You are entitled to ask your supervisor to clearly delineate who
will be accountable for share work.  If it is to be the senior employee then you should not be held accountable for the errors of others.  If it is to be
you, then you should be given the appropriate level of authority over the work of others, regardless of the length of time they have been with the
firm.  Another option is to make the team accountable, but that will require the supervisor to ensure that the team is able to function cooperatively.

The course of action that you propose in your final action is, I hope, suggested out of a sense of frustration.  It is my view that living life
defensively, whether in the workplace of elsewhere, sucks the energy right out of a person.  If that really seems to be the only course of action
possible, start looking for another job.

Thanks for writing to Office-Politics.

Regards,

Dr. John Burton

Feedback from Low Man on Totem Pole
Unfortunately my worst fears were confirmed today. I was given my walking papers and instructed to turn in my keys... My last hour was spent in the company of my supervisor and the program director. Their message was civil, but firm: I was not living up to their expectations and they had concluded that I was not a "good fit". When I asked them to please elaborate I was told that I lacked a certain "esoteric quality" that went beyond quantifiable benchmarks like work performance or skill competency. Drawn into the surreal nature of the conversation, I found myself calmly asking if there was anybody in the office whom they could identify as having this "esoteric quality". I was told in a matter of fact tone that there was no such person. It was at this point that I came to realize that there was a much bigger game being played out at my expense. At first I couldn't understand why I was being pitted against an ideal, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks: in averting multiple disasters I had not only contributed to the success of the program, but unwittingly also to my own demise! The program became so successful and attracted so much interest that I basically paved the way for somebody else, the ideal successor, to take it to the next level. I had outlived my usefulness and I was expendable. Thus ends my sad story. Yet another casualty of office politics.

Dr. John Burton LL.B. M.B.A. M.Div. Ph.D. is an ethicist, mediator, lawyer and theologian whose passion is helping people and organizations create better relationships and stronger communities by being clear, committed and collaborative in their approach to ethics and conflict. John is currently located in Prince Rupert, B.C., Canada, working with Canada's aboriginal communities.