Standing up to the boss?

[susans]

The poll on the home page is "Do you stand up to your boss when you don't agree on an issue?"  As it stands now, most will stand their ground.  With that, does anyone have any stories on standing up to thier boss on a subject or an issue?  Where you right?  Where you wrong?  Did something interesting come of if?  Did you feel a sense of accomplishment?  Was your boss just being stubborn?  If you are one of the no you haven't.  What stops you from expressing your opinion?

[raindance]

I "stood up" to my boss about eighteen months ago about a particular matter which caused me a sleepless night or two.  The circumstances of this matter are very sensitive, but it suffices to say that it was an extremely serious matter which, had it become public knowledge (and these things always have a habit of leaking out one way or another) would have resulted in both my boss and the Chairman of our company having to resign.  My own position might also have been damaged if the matter had been allowed to continue.

Was I right?  Definitely.  Did I feel a sense of accomplishment?  I felt I had done what was right and just, and I had saved the bacon of a couple of people. Doing what I did is not easy and you have to think it through very carefully. You have to have very good reasons for doing what I did and be able to justify them.  You also have to think of the consequences for yourself.  Looking at it from a senior person's point of view - don't expect that person to be grateful that their "junior" saved their bacon.  Human nature doesn't necessarily work that way.   Was my boss just being stubborn?  The only charitable conclusion one can come to is that my boss took a certain decision as a reaction to a situation, and lacked judgement on that occasion - don't we all, from time to time?  Did something interesting come of it?  I suppose that some people around my office listen to me a bit more and seem to value my advice, and even ask for it.  I'm always discreet and respectful, though.

Raindance

[gee4]

Depends on the circumstances.  If I've made a mistake I'll hold my hands up, however if I feel I am right in something I will try and get my point across.  Depends how long you've been in the job, your position, how well you know your boss and how it may affect you in the long run, either emotionally or professionally.

G

[movinonup]

I lost  a few nights' sleep over an issue about 4 years ago, before I finally stood up to my boss and told him I wasn't qualified for the work he had me struggling with.  He had nearly a hundred detailed blueprints of various automotive parts and he wanted me to take the information from them and add it all to a database.  

I tried doing this for a while, but was not getting anywhere.  I kept having to leave blanks where I couldn't understand certain details.  Then I'd have to interrupt my boss to figure these out when he had time.  Sometimes I'd put information in that turned out to be wrong. It was all very stressful.

He actually understood completely when I explained this assignment wasn't going to work out. It helped that an engineering associate pointed out that I should be given more administrative work, not engineering detail work (when he was discussing another matter with him).

Mind you, I wouldn't mind being responsible for such difficult, tedious work, if I was trained and properly compensated for it.




Movinonup