Read Part I
The thing is, I talked to my boss four years ago (after working for him for about six months) and discussed the need for me to be on a career path that included advancement opportunities. Since I was widowed and my only source of income was my own job, I had to make sure he knew that when opportunities for advancement came along I would be pursuing them.
It was a good discussion. I felt we came out of that meeting "on the same page". But I was in for a shock when that first opportunity came along just a few months later. I went for it...and immediately and angrily got shot down.
You see, in my company it is policy that before you apply for a new position you need to discuss it with your current manager. It's a good policy in the sense that the manager should not learn from somebody else that you are looking for another job. It's a bad policy in the sense that it can prevent people from pursuing opportunities for fear of offending their boss.
Which was what happened in my case. My boss seemed to take it as a personal slap in the face that I would want to leave his team. He got angry and defensive. He brought up our conversation of a few months prior and (from my perspective) twisted it to have meant that he would let me know of opportunities that might be suited for me, and that I was NOT to pursue them myself.
Since then I had resigned myself to the belief that in order to advance I would have to leave the company. Which was not fair! Why should I have to leave a company with 30,000+ employees and plenty of opportunity for growth because my boss did not want to let me go? Why did he say that he would not stand in my way and then do exactly that?
(to be continued)
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