*BEWARE OF THAT JUDAS KISS!* THE ART OF THE SURREPTITIOUS SABOTAGE...
You were hired because you are innovator. Because you have a reputation as an agent of change that gets things done, and upper management trusts you will do the hard, transformative tasks. So much so that they have put you in charge of an important, groundbreaking, flagship project for your company/institution.
So far so good. However, those invested in the status quo aren't exactly thrilled with your arrival - much less with the important project with which you have been entrusted. Resistance to change with a touch of envy thrown in. On the other hand, they know they have to look good to upper management, so they smile and make all sorts of noises about how you can count on their support for anything you need...
Middle management in particular may view you as an existential threat to their very jobs, yet they are quasi charged with implementing the program assigned to you. Thus, they pump you for information about what you have or have not told upper management about the progress of your efforts, and they all listen politely to your presentations - then rush to be the first to tell upper management either to claim paternity to your ideas, or to bad mouth them. Since they have daily direct access and contact with upper management, they can always get there ahead of you and condition their mind set.
But the pretense of helping you and supporting your efforts goes on. They smile. They kiss you on the cheek. All the while sabotaging and undermining you every step of the way.
Nevertheless, your efforts start to pay off and the project starts to gain traction. At that point, the sabotage becomes increasingly flagrant. You are in the middle of a presentation to potential clients that is going well, with the potential clients clearly engaged, when your superior - who now insists on accompanying you - suddenly interrupts and yanks the attention back to him (or her) and the magic is lost.
You propose a launching cocktail to have the new project make its public debut - nothing out of the ordinary in the sense that other new projects have been similarly launched. Ahh, but this time, you just might get way too much credit, and the go-ahead never seems to come.
Indeed, the more the project looks like it just might be successful notwithstanding all efforts to undermine it, then all of a sudden everyone has to have a say in it - especially top brass who find themselves inspired to change key components in the face of a tight launch date, throwing everything into chaos.
Then they call you to the office of your immediate superior - the one who had most to gain by sabotaging the project - and all along the way, everyone is giving you warm kisses on the cheek, knowing that you are about to be fired. And, you are indeed fired.
Could the result have been avoided? Yes, if upper management truly had had your back and placed the interests of the company/institution above all. But that may be asking too much of human nature.
Nevertheless, lessons to be learned from the experience:
1. ACCESS IS IMPORTANT.- When negotiating the terms of engagement, you not only need to make sure that upper management will indeed back you all the way, but - even more importantly - that you will have access to them whenever you need it, both to periodically report on your progress, as well as to find solutions to potential problems.
This is especially true in emerging economies where upper management tends to promise the moon and the stars, and then when you need them, they are no where to be found. Just in case that becomes the situation, important to document your every step, with dates and results - keep a sort of log as it were - and never omit cc'ing upper management on all important e-mails, letters, etc. (if they are really supporting you, they will appreciate being kept in the loop; if those e-mails, etc. cause them to start feeling you may be doing your job too well, then better find out sooner than later.)
2. INFORMATION ABOUT - & INVESTMENT IN - THE PROJECT.- Middle management needs to be fully informed by upper management about the priority of having the project succeed, and sign off on it. Middle management also needs to be made fully and personally invested in the project, such that sabotaging it means they are sabotaging themselves.
2.1. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE.- HOWEVER, never underestimate the true power of middle management. In emerging countries, in particular, (with some very notable exceptions) there is no such thing as management by walking around. Upper management tends to reign from above, and rarely - if ever - even visits the lower floors where the operations actually take place. Thus, middle management has every incentive in the world to place "their" people in all the key power points of the company/institution and do pretty much as they please. Should one of them get called on anything, they all close ranks and rally around each other. Thus a newcomer outside the click, has little chance of survival without a strong upper management backing him or her every inch of the way...
3. TIME TO BAIL.- When upper management itself becomes the problem when they start feeling you are shining too much, it's time to bail. No point hanging around a toxic environment. Find a place where you are truly appreciated and your work will not be akin to building castles in the sand. Or, start your own company and embark upon an adventure where you *know* you have your own back!
Cheers!
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