Another one bites the dust

Today was my supervisor's last day. This is the third time in the two years that I have been here that the person in the position above me has resigned. I know this past one was justifiably frustrated with the organization and how it is being run and was even frustrated and the interaction they and I have had. But even so, this person left in a very unprofessional and disrespectful manner.

When they first started I was treated as almost a secretary – being asked to do their mailings, return phone calls, update contact lists, etc. Once job duties were straightened out we finally began to work as a team and things seemed to be going well. Every so often they would get frustrated with the many, many “brick walls” they hit with their own supervisor, but they seemed to be really determined to succeed and move the organization forward no matter what.

In the last month I was beginning to get dumped on. More and more tasks that were not their responsibility were being handed down from their supervisor and then, quite frankly, crap has a tendency to flow downhill and unfortunately I was at the bottom. Things that had previously been cleared up (like job descriptions) seemed to get fuzzy again. I was being asked to find sponsors, fund raise and to do grant reports – things that absolutely do not fall under my job description. I was being bullied into doing these things - being literally cornered in my cubical and being told I didn't have a choice. In trying to stand up for myself (in a very professional and respectful manner I will add) there were some heated conversations that ended with this person throwing paper at me and telling me I was a failure and worthless.

They decided to go back to their previous position and I can’t say that I’m broken up about it. In their resignation memo they stated that “I will miss some of you very much”. Ouch! I’m not sure who all that was directed at, but good grief! People at this organization certainly didn’t deserve that. I am baffled as to why things took such a dramatic turn in a hurry but in the end I think they made the right decision for both themselves and for our organization. I still don’t think that I deserved to be treated the way I was but I have learned a lot about myself through the experience.

At 2:00 this afternoon they decided to peel their name off of their mail box and take off – with not a word to anyone. No goodbyes, no notes, no emails, nothing. I don’t suspect that we’ll see them around here again but, for now, that’s ok with me…