Do Bright High achievers face more blocks from Management?

Question

So this has been happening with me since three of my jobs, I look like a great candidate to the Manager, they hire me, I join the work and put all my heart soul and passion into it. Being a writer I get flair of many ideas everyday, so I start giving ideas, we start putting those on work, my boss tells me they are very impressed, they love my work, office loves my work and reads the freshness i have brought into the newsletter, CEO talks to me....and bam, suddenly i start losing out on work, my boss assigns more work to other people and I sit idle, then next newsletter takes tons of modifications from boss to get approved (it literally took a month) and i am told that i am 'too creative' 'putting more efforts than needed' 'needs to do less and put in less time' and so forth! Such things have been happening to me since my last three jobs, have you also faced it? What do you think about it? What is this about? Comments are most welcome

Sydney Susan Hart · Answer

Many managers are threatened by intelligent people. Maybe your manager was fine with it, but the CEO was put off. Don’t take it personally. There is a lot of anti-intellectualism in the workplace. But if I were you, I would look for a new position with another company ASAP!

Jackie Ruka · Answer

Too creative may simply mean the writing, albeit refreshing is not mainstream enough for the company culture.  So it’s a nice way of saying to downplay your narrative.
Writing to fit the company culture is hard especially if you are already a creative writer. So perhaps your writing is wonderful you just need to find the right company culture the vibes with your style.

Carmen Honacker · Answer

Oh dear, this about sums it up for me, and what's worse, I've blamed myself each time, wondering if I somehow messed up or brought this treatment on myself.
My boss went as far as blocking my promotion, giving my projects to weaker performers, then finally took my team away and blocked any way for me to go up.
I don't understand it either, since our performance makes them look good/better. But somehow, HE was the one who ended up getting promoted, while he was telling me suddenly that I had 'gaps.'

Jackie Ruka · Answer

Ah, that makes more sense. The idea of empowering women with the use of a cleaning product might seem impactful decades ago but not for the modern India women of today. Therefore your creative abilities are being stifled based on the India culture and perception of women and your creative juices are eeking out that goes against the norm. Therefore you may be looked upon as a female activist versus a corporate writer that speaks to the norm, the worlds are colliding. So you have a choice to make: write your heart out on a blog and keep your corporate position (but down play your creative prose with a more company focused approach, appaling but it pays the bills OR  choose a role with a company that empowers women that you get to write for?

Kia Harris · Answer

I have worked in cultures where  the statement of lowering your expectations is a generic statement. Or change takes years, or get to know the team and how they respond to change.  It all means that change is expected and neither is out shining anyone else.  This isn’t the place for you - look for somewhere that appreciates your light.

Katie O'Keefe · Answer

This is almost constantly a problem in my field. You have 'too much change, too fast' and people above you get threatened by you being younger and fresher than they are. Often, I have found, that they have gotten into their positions by *not* shaking things up, but by appeasing people. So, their tolerance for change is low. Try to see where they are now and why they might be inclined to stay there, then fine small, incremental ways to make the changes you want to see. Having people to champion your idea really helps, too. The more people you can get behind you, the more likely that managers will adopt change.

Kimberly Moon · Answer

I feel for you on this one. I have experienced this in five of my last 6 roles.  I'm in biotech and things are expected to move at lightening speed.  In interviews the company usually talks about how they want an independent self-starter who has new ideas and likes to improve processes and organize.  Once hired I'm sure to discuss my way of working openly and have clear conversations with managers and with other teammates (whether they report to me or not) about how I work, how they work, and how we can make it all work well together.  Initially this is met with praise and lots of thanks.  Quickly it turns into a lot more work being dumped on me, which I usually accept happily and get to work innovating the best ways to approach the problems.  Regardless of whether I continue to do the massive amount of work coming my way or mention that the workload is a bit too heavy for me to bear, the next step always seems to be the same.  My manager will find some way to lash out at me.  This has come in the form of consistent praise and then a complete 180 at review time, passive-aggressive comments about social skills,  telling my I'm working too hard, telling me I'm not up to par, telling me that I ask too many questions, etc.

The only thing I've been able to conclude in this pattern is that all of the managers that treated me this way had a problem with themselves.  I suspect they suffered from imposter syndrome (sometimes rightfully so, sometimes not) or  felt some sort of threat to their own role.  In any event, I have even had to have the conversation with my managers about 'why did you hire me if you didn't want me to do what we talked about in my interview and in our initial meetings and in my job description.'  I have even received the answer that my performance makes other's feel bad.

I'm not sure if this helps, but this is NOT a problem with you.  Self-reflection is good and you should definitely search for ways to improve consistently, but you are not responsible for others' insecurities.  Unfortunately, when it comes to work, they put you in a position that makes  you take a certain amount of responsibility and that is not ok.

Nimisha · Answer

Hi everyone! I wish to share an interesting turn of events following what happened to me. I was asked to resign after all those things that I wrote about happened. Then I resigned and could not find a new job in pandemic and had to move in with my parents. I started applying my content marketing skills for myself and did a few email campaigns. I recieved a few assignments and then it just kept growing. I created a brand name called The Thinkfact and Now this month I earned almost the same as my salary and even have asked a few people to partner with me because the workload and assignments are increasing month by month! I could  not even imagine that I was even capable of doing such a thing! This was a blessing in disguise and in fact one client after reading one of my emailers told me she loved the template design and the content in it and exclaimed 'very creative of you' as a praise. I'm so grateful. Thankyou all of you who helped me keep calm by giving me such nice advices and offering me support :)

Nimisha · Answer

Hi everyone, its me, I wrote this post. Now I know what it is, I've been asked to resign.  62 other ppl were also asked to resign. Basically it's a layoff. Other ppl I spoke to, also reported similar issues. :(

May Magdy · Answer

Your post resonates with a case I personally went through. I am still waiting for an answer from the CEO on what did I do wrong to be working for the company incognito from my home!!

When I started I could see the looks and hear the murmurs going on around. Who is she? Why does she have lots of time with the CEO? Oh, so this young looking “ which is not the case I am 38 “ an executive consultant!!!!

Then you find the older top managers CC me in their emails where they would bash each other and then one of them would say : “ Now let’s see how the CONSULTANT will teach us how to treat each other!” 
I can keep on going, but at least you have got the idea.

As a management consultant, I can tell you with confidence that these acts present the culture of the organization.

A new hard working face, specially a woman and increases if looks young and well groomed, presents a threat to their existence, the system, processes and the expected outcome  they have the CEO used to and considers now as the norm .

You don’t come suddenly and propose something different!

You don’t come and provide higher quality outcome, that gets the Owners or CEO rethink the whole staffs’ performance and take drastic actions against them, either by enforcing changes on several levels or by having the heads fired . Either way,  you are shaking the ground  underneath them and threatening their comfort zone and existence.

The problem is when the CEO is scared of change himself, even though he believes that you are on the right path, but it could be the fear of causing turbulence in the system where it depends on the employees and not the well defined and documented processes , that it wouldn’t really matter who fills the position. A strong system can face the turbulences, and changes that an organization may face.

When this is not the case, the CEO would try to adopt the changes, but would stop at some point cause he is not confident if the system can face the period where resistance to change usually takes then the change becomes the norm.

So you should stop your creativity, do it the same way others are . Keep the effort for a hot cup of coffee and some gossip in the CFO’s office ?

Check a company that adopts creativity, team work and the same work ethics that you have. Research well and good luck ??

Do Bright High achievers face more blocks from Management?

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