Episode Details

I was hosting a coaching call the other day and I wanted to share the problem that we discussed in case you are experiencing a similar situation. The person I was speaking to has an issue where their manager is actively sabotaging their career development. If you want to be successful, you have to take control of your career because no one else will do it for you. And when your leader creates roadblocks that prevent you from growing the way that you wish, it becomes even more important to own your own career.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, the first thing you need to do is to try to identify why your leader might be behaving this way.

• Your manager may have some form of bias. This could be a form of prejudice such as racism or sexism that should be addressed with HR or it could just be as simple as playing favorites with others on the team.
• Your manager might feel threatened by you. There are several reasons why your manager could have these feelings from being a below average performer to being new to the role.
• Another reason that your manager may not support you is that they may just not be aware of what it actually takes for you to advance. Though, if you have been following this podcast for any length of time, I regularly encourage you to have career conversations with your leader to ensure that they are invested in your development.

By understanding the source of the problem, you can adjust your approach towards finding a resolution.

Start by having a conversation with your manager for feedback on your performance. Prior to this conversation, review Episode 012 - Receiving Effective Feedback (https://www.managingacareer.com/12). It may be a difficult conversation given the contentious relationship you may have, but it is important to maintain a level of professionalism and avoid getting defensive about anything your manager says. Ideally, you don't react at all to any faults that your manager indicates -- whether true or not. Even if they are actively preventing your progress, there will still be items that they think you should work on.

Your goal with this feedback is to spend the rest of the year generating evidence to counter each believe. For instance, if there are skills that your leader thinks you are weak in, look for training that can supplement your abilities and try to find opportunities to showcase them to your organization. Use this evidence during your performance review to prove that these are not weaknesses.

If your leader believes that you have issues related to your performance on assignments or projects, create a weekly status report. Review Episode 044 - Reporting Status (https://www.managingacareer.com/44) for some guidelines on what makes a good status report. This status report should be sent to your manager, the project manager, and your manager's leader. It is important t