My manager told me that we need to prove to get the upper management confidence. They are not proving anything to gain my confidence? What should I do?
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I’m a manager 15+ years here. I care about my team and their advancement is basically my top priority. However this approach doesn’t seem to be a viable survival strategy anymore - I guess I’ve been lucky up till now!! Not sure how much longer I can hold on, been getting shorted on rewards for a few years- just hoping I can leave my team in a good position when the ageism axe finally falls.
All told Cisco has been the best of my corporate suitors- but in the end - sad to say- it’s still a heartless corporate beast like all the rest.
4rlt+1oMeCUUo,
You are right and I am the OP. Everything you mentioned in the context I was in. I feel my immediate manager is mediocre and not doing a good job of communicating our efforts. Working for him is a waste of time and not worth it. Let me prove it somewhere else.
In a hierarchical command structure the privates don't tell the generals what to do. Someone needs to catch the bullets and the privates have no say in that either.
Upper management on the other hand does have a responsibility to know what is going on, but at Cisco they state in explicit terms in world wide all hands they don't know what's going on and don't want to know, that it's all about how they "feel," and if you help others and they feel better about them the fact that you were responsible won't be known and you'll be fired.
You've provided no context (are you or your group new to the upper management for example.) Independent of what company you work for, you have to evaluate if your particular management chain is competent, or if not do the managers between you and the upper management have enough clout to keep you and your team in favor. You also need to evaluate the quality of tasks you are given because doing a great job at meaningless tasks where you neither build nor even maintain skills it is a net loss to you.
Good move OP. Similar thing happened to me....I also got out. Cisco is a large rudderless ship much like Xerox was in bygone days. You can leave on your own terms or terms dictated by others.
@here
I am the OP and resigned. I believe when managers says that we need to get upper management confidence, it is not a good indication and manager is not worth proving as he is delegating issue by avoiding genuine feedback. Thank you all for the inputs. Joining a infancy stage startup.
quit
Problem at Cisco is there is no performance evaluation for individual contributors. You are a victim of your manager's whim and narcissistic urges. So, you cannot prove anything, including your worth. If you are lucky enough to have a good manager - which is very rare - then use that to the best of your ability as much as possible.
At Cisco most managers are not hired based on their management qualities, but based on their ability to brown nose upwards and the newfound "diversity" clause. That is the main reason why this kind of situation happens all the time with incompetency, poor communication skills and lack of experience showing up at every possible turn.
As the previous poster said, most people leave their management, not the company. I certainly did and am much happier away from that toxic environment. Took a while to adjust but hey, I am somewhere where is a solid performance review, rewards based on well-defined metrics and not the manager's mood swings, belly aches or personal bias. Add the stock price, options, RSUs - I am actually a lot better off then before. Took a while to find this job, it's not easy getting into a MAANG . But in life, you get as output what you input. Start looking and then one fine morning kick the manager, say "bye" to this toxic moribund dump, leave and dodge the perpetual LR bullet.
Chin up, all the best!
I worked on some projects and patents with someone in the UK whose new and inexperienced manager said something very similar to him at a 1-on-1 I think. The guy was totally devastated. Took him a few days to get used to the notion that no matter how good you are, at Cisco you can easily be a victim of an incompetent manager’s whim. I personally tried to get him an internal role elsewhere as did a couple of other quite high up people I know. But he left for another employer last year. There are always a place for people who are good and work loyally. The change may or may not work for you but if not, then you can change again if continue to be good. What is important is you live with your professional self respect intact. Otherwise, the message you send to your dimwit of an incompetent manager is that you can be his or her doormat. Leave or move internally.
My manager told me that we need to prove to get the upper management confidence. They are not proving anything to gain my confidence? What should I do?
They won't have much consequence if they(the upper management) fail to gain your confidence, will they? All they need is the confidence of their bosses. The brutal truth is that they can FIRE all of you when they think you are useless. Nothing you can do about, therefore, if you want to continue to work in your current team - prove to them your are valuable. Alternatively, I totally agree with the suggestion that show the middle finger and leave. It is your right to do so.