Am I weak?

by In Transition Working Girl

I have been dying to write about this for over a week and would like to pose a question to all of you Working Girls. But first, let me set up the situation for you.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to go to lunch with two of my co-workers. The first is someone who, I think, finds a reason to yell at me on a weekly basis and the second, is the person I replaced. It was sort of an odd lunch, but the person who always yells at me thought it might be nice to get to know the "old me" since we are around the same age. It was really great, the "old me" and I hit it off right away.

After the get-to-know-you conversations, the conversation quickly turned to how my boss is non-confrontational and how the person who yells thinks being non-confrontational is a sign of weakness. I stopped in my tracks, this is why I get yelled at! This had me thinking all week, since I would rather talk through the issue, this makes me weak? What do you think?

I think that in the workplace there are many different styles of management and dealing with issues in a confrontational manner can only escalate the situation. To me the word confrontation has negative a very connotation. I would rather talk through the issue, let both people state their point of view and come to a resolution. I do understand that there are people who run from any sort of confrontation, but that does not make them weak, it just means they need to be communicated to in a different way.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Why am I In Transition Working Girl?

I know to this point I have been rather vague as to why I am in transition. I apologize about this as I mentioned when I first started blogging, I felt until I moved on it was best to keep these details on the DL for obvious reasons. I am looking forward to the day when I can share all the amazing stories (being sarcastic) regarding my current position as I think many of you will be able to relate to me.

However, this week has been especially challenging for me professionally and I wanted to share with you more of the "why" I am in transition. There are many events that have lead me to where I am. It's been roughly a years worth of frustrations that have lead me to being in transition. Mainly there are two things that when I pinpoint my unhappiness seem to be common themes. Are you ready for them. Lack of direction and poor leadership.

How many of you working girls have the same frustrations?

In terms of lack of direction, I feel there is no vision for where the company I work for is headed. It seems to have all these ideas, but no idea how to accomplish them, thus the wheels are spinning and no movement forward occurs. It's as though the company I work for is in the same spot it was when I joined, perhaps even going backwards. We have nothing that we can say we have done or accomplished. Since I am a goal oriented person, this has been eating away at me. I feel I express my thoughts on goal setting only to get shut down.

The second item, poor leadership, is a tough nut for me to swallow. This is because my boss is actually a really nice person, but does not posses the knowledge for the position they are in. Integrity is very questionable and, last but not least, motivation to focus on company items is minimal.

As you can see I am frustrated. At first I thought maybe I was the only one seeing this, but recently a door opened and someone else let me in that they are feeling the same way. I feel very lucky to have the position I do right now, but the more frustrated I get, the more it motivates me to work on the next opportunity, which I hope happens sooner than later.

So what are some of the reasons that have lead you to be in transition either now or in the past?