Self-destructing in Corporate America

Post Reply New Topic

I'm a mid-40's male Aspie and I've been moderately successful professionally. I was self-employed and *extremely* successful before the whole economic meltdown and was even seriously considering retirement in my 30's. I'm quite technically proficient and business savvy and I've learned enough compensating behaviors to behave "normally" when needed. I've always had a small and tight network of people that actively talked me up and kept me going from opportunity to opportunity.

However, about 7 years ago, I jumped back into corporate America in a job where I was reporting to the CIO of a very large global company. We had a good relationship and I was very successful. Then he left and the next guy in was what I would consider an "as*hole" who seemed bent on furthering himself at the expense of the people under him and the company as a whole. Unfortunately, since this was essentially the "top guy", finding a position under a subordinate wouldn't have resolved the problem, so I moved on.

I landed a job working for a personal friend, doing work that I enjoyed, but at a much lower grade than my previous job. It didn't really bother me much. Title and position aren't really a big thing to me (for the most part). I worked myself out of a job and I then moved under another person that I liked and respected and also did quite well.

(bear with me...I'm getting to the point)
Then I was reclassified by HR, moved under a person that I simply couldn't stand (another person intent on their own political position, throwing others under the bus and generally screwing the company over for their own benefit). I was being positioned for promotion, but simply couldn't stomach the thought of working in this organization. So one of my professional contacts rescued me and brought me under their org. I didn't really fit there, but I can do a lot of different jobs quite effectively, so it didn't really matter.

HR reclassified me again and downgraded me (no drop in pay, but since I didn't have staff anymore, I lost my title). Again, not a huge problem...except....

The company reorganized and I ended up being moved under one of my peers (remember those downgrades?) and the new management just assumes that I'm a peon and treats me that way. In addition, I'm now on a job track that's totally unrelated to anything that I actually want to do and for people that I don't really want to do it for. On top of that, they're dismantling all of the work that we did over the past 5 years.

I can get out of the org as a lateral move, but functionally it would be another downgrade. On the plus side, it would be working for someone who I respect and have a good working relationship with.

My problem is that I'm not very picky about what I'm doing as long as I'm doing it for someone that I respect and can communicate with. I have zero tolerance for politics and even less for self-serving jackals who are more concerned about themselves than the company and the people working for them. Unfortunately, skills, experience and talent are meaningless here unless you're willing to play the game.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? Any advice? Should I just embrace the downward spiral and be happy or grit my teeth and try to find happiness higher up the chain?

My instinct tells me it has to do with the downsizing craze sweeping corporate America, and it affects all levels, even C-suites. My cousin was the HR chief of a frozen foods giant, and was laid off two years ago. She and her husband felt they had enough money relative to their lifestyle, and decided never to work a day again. I think she'd like to, but the politics of corporate America got to her.

I also know the CEO of a hospital who got fired. Imagine how hard of a time she has finding work, especially in this economy.

Granted, these people are not suffering, but their stories raise a much broader social problem. These are highly-skilled workers who can create jobs. They weren't fired because they weren't good, but because someone else wanted their jobs. If we aren't using these assets, though, then what hope to we have for a broad macroeconomic recovery?

I don't work in corporate America, however from an outsider's perspective, it has seemed to me that the psychopaths started climbing the corporate ladders sometime in the late 90's and it sounds like they have accumulated near the top where they eventually fulfill their destiny as human viruses and eventually bring the company...and economy, down.

On that cheerful note, I'm not sure what your actual profession is, but have you ever considered working for a venture capitalism firm? They seem to be a nice bunch of people...open minded and willing to hear what others have to say.

The corporate psychopath must always live of others to keep their standard. That's their Achilles heal.

If stupidity is the norm of the company. Then play along and get as much money you can while you look for a better opportunity.

@Chronos, What observation makes you conclude that psychopaths started to climb in the late 1990s ?, I thought they always been around..

I guess that the real issue is that I have much less tolerance for (and understanding of the motivation behind) political games. In the past, I've been lucky enough to align myself with people who are genuine and focused on doing the "right thing" (and who I can defer to for political cover when needed). I'm political enough to be able to negotiate and not be offensive when we're all working towards common goals. But I'm fundamentally incapable of lying or hiding my distaste when I know that what we're doing is wrong (not "illegal" wrong, but harmful to the common good). I'm the kind of person that will accept blame for others' mistakes when it's going to move the project along or will take responsibility for things that "aren't my job" when nobody else will step up. These behaviors are great when you work for managers that are concerned about delivering results, but nothing more than "blood in the water" when surrounded by people who are more concerned about appearances and politics.

I've tried the "grin and bear it" approach in the past and ended up viewed as public enemy #1 and the token whipping boy. So, instead, I end up focusing on who I work for rather than ensuring that the job is on my career path. (not that I really have one anymore :/ ) It's really not a behavior that's conducive to personal or career growth.

I have to be a bit careful describing my background to avoid "outing" myself as an Aspie. You never know what boards the corporate trolls are scouring. Let's just say that I've been through the ranks from engineering to management to global finance, business, security and compliance and to running my own consulting company for a number of years. Ironically, everyone that ever worked for me has told me what a great boss I am and a few have mentioned my amazing "emotional intelligence". I attribute it to my "Jane Goodall" approach to living among NTs. You don't have to be a chimp to mimic the social behaviors and be a productive and supportive member of the group. Unfortunately, it falls apart when some alpha comes along and starts flinging poop and you can't bring yourself to mimic that particular behavior.

I can comment on this one. They always have been around. But, in the past they've been isolated. Now with job-hopping and "right sizing" becoming more acceptable and commonplace, they're consolidating. If you get a handful of them, they drive the bad behavior throughout an entire organization. When they were more isolated, staff had a choice of whether they'd align with the "sell your mother" crowd or the "all for one" crowd. So you'd have some checks and balances in the organization. Now it's much easier for the machiavellian people to downsize their detractors and then backfill with kindred spirits. 20 years ago it was much harder to justify a 30% staff turnover. Now it's BAU (Business As Usual).

I honestly beleive that a lot of corporate cultures like Google or Zappos couldn't exist if there weren't other corporate cultures frying people and creating a motivated pool of candidates who've seen hell and don't ever want to go back.

What is the "Jane Goodall" approach?

"Emotional intelligence" in NT:s is overrated. It's like two clocks running in sync. However if one of them uses another system to display time they still measure the same time, but the presumptions fail flat.

I wonder how the psychopath with kindred spirits vs professionals is going to turn out in the long run?, it ought to impact corporate results in the end.
If school system in China/India is taken into account as well as the economical impact it might be harsh for the USA. As it seems albeit their very sausage filling approach to teaching is crappy, if the corresponding system in USA deals with bullying and slackers it's a loosing way of doing business.

I guess a better approach personally might be to become independent of the BS in the corporate employee world.

Yes, I have seen it too. It might have something to do with the "everyone's a winner" attitude in schools, they start to think they are entitled to things.

Jane Goodall is a primatologist/anthropologist who famously revolutionalized the way that we study primates. She lived with and immersed herself in a chimpanzee community in Tanzania and discovered tool use, social structures, etc. that were unknown at the time. The accepted approach at the time was to distance yourself and passively and objectively observe. Instead, she broke all of the rules and observed, formed theories, experimented with mimicking the behaviors and essentially tried to behave like a chimp to be able to better understand them. To date, she's the only human being to ever be accepted into chimp society. She didn't become a chimp or worry about the differences between her and the chimps. She didn't stress out over the fact that she wasn't a chimp and never would be. She just patiently observed, made generalizations, tested and repeated until she had the behaviors down well enough to be accepted.

When I say I use the "Jane Goodall" approach, I generally mean that I quietly observe and watch how the NTs behave, what reactions that behavior gets from other members of the tribe and when I think that I have a viable theory, I'll try it myself and see what happens. I can make logical assumptions and intellectually figure out how the peices fit even if I don't "instinctively" get it a lot of the time. I'm generally pretty good at it unless I'm under a lot of stress. Then I tend to be more "natural" and less "NT-compliant". The really unfortunate part is that when I know that I'm being asked to be a part of something that's not in the best interests of the company, that creates stress. ;/



Yup. I was a pretty happy camper when I was consulting. I was just looking for a little more stability and job security.

The only stability is bank account with loads of money. The respect for the company ought to be mutual. So don't feel bad about exploiting it. But consider it a sinking ship so find a better opportunity. And don't get dirty with anything that might compromise your CV.

Ree...spect.. Hmmm...the word sounds familiar. I vaguely remember working for companies that not only included it in their mission statements but actually exhibited it. I wonder if any of them still exist?

No fear of getting dirty. I'm self-destructively ethical. It's the main reason why I have such difficulty working for people that lurk in the moral grey space. I've walked away from very lucrative jobs and contracts when someone starts playing silly buggers. If I could just push down that instinct once in awhile, I'd have a lot less angst in my life.

Don't be more moral than your opponent

Yep, it's weird how being genuine and honest is often seen as a threat!

We tend to fear that which is different from ourselves