I work with a liaison who, when faced with criticism or complaints about the performance of his team, throws EVERYONE under the bus, myself included. He does not want to take responsibility for the problems, perhaps thinking that if he does he might come closer to being fired due to the cut throat nature of his company’s work culture, so instead he deflects. He will blame the delivery guys, the warehouse guys, the merchandising guys, he will blame the advertising plans and marketing efforts, saying they are either not enough or that they were not targeted. fun fact, he heads the S&M (giggle) team and he approves the very plans he criticises. He is not a team player in tough times and he drives the proverbial bus over everyone. I was upset about it and complained to my co-worker whose response was “get your own bus!”
I do have my own bus, for this guy and his team are not at all without flaws, however, I don’t think that this parade of buses is the way to go. I don’t want every meeting to feel like we’re playing in traffic and someone is going to get run over any second. I want us to be able to work together and realise that we all want the same thing – more sales. So I’m sticking with the pedestrian route and trying to use Stop signs – I don’t retaliate, I ensure that all my comments have a positive tone even if I have something negative to say and I always say “we” to enforce the fact that we are indeed a team.
How do you deal with being thrown under the bus? Do you get your own and return the favour or do you stay pedestrian? Tell me in the comments.
Caribbean Business Traveller 