Must you be a soulless, evil scoundrel to succeed in the corporate world?

[CoffeeCat]

Can an honest, hardworking, moral person successfully make it in the corporate world?

Conversely---Is it almost a requirement that a successful corporate executive be a blackhearted jerk?

Wouldn't a kind, fair-minded, person of character get eaten alive and taken advantage of--by the ruthless bastards that saturate the corporate world?

I'm so bummed. I quit a job several years ago, mainly due to an abusive boss. He was THE WORST. I'm talking--four-alarm, over-the-top abuses that were actionable. I contacted an attorney after I quit. The attorney was salivating to take my case. This boss had written a fake "press release" about my pregnancy. The press release stated (among other things), that the father of my child was unknown, and that the staff was going to enjoy watching my midsection expand during the coming months. This jerk disseminated this press release to twenty people in the company. Nice huh? This was only one thing he did to me. And it wasn't the worst.

I decided today--five years after quitting--to Google the bastage. He's now a VP at one of the largest companies in America. I expected that he'd be a crossing guard; or working the night shift at the jerk store. But no--he's a vp. Lovely. Just lovely.

Is there any justice in this world?

[toddzilla]

1. yes, sorry.

[salinen]

2. Get yourself a voodoo doll

and shove something sharp up it's anus.

[Ilsa]

3. The answer is "No", but I suppose it helps to be one.

I hope your former boss gets his soon.

Maybe you should return the favor and send a press release out about him. And this might be a more profitable time to sue his ass.

[benevolent dictator]

4. Check out the CEO of Costco, he seems like one of the only decent ones! nt

[punpirate]

5. The country is now in the grip...

... of this mentality (corporations exist only to make a profit for their shareholders), and it's meant to excuse all kinds of bad behavior--at many levels--as you well know.

That said, there are a few good ones, but, sadly, they're overshadowed by the ones with a cutthroat mentality.

Contrast Costco with WalMart. Big difference, but which is the higher flyer?

My own feeling, after forty years in the work force, is that badly-managed companies attract bad managers. It's in the nature of who's running things and how they structure the company around themselves. The mania for MBA types hasn't helped. (Look at what a mediocre MBA has done to the country and what kind of structure he's created around himself.)

[lonestarnot]

6. Yes...have to walk over many bodies to get to the top of the pile.

[DBoon]

7. You don't have to be a soulless scoundrel

as long as your Daddy owns the company you can rise to a very high level by being compassionate and honest.

(I'm having a cynical moment..)

[necso]

8. No,

but it can help.

If you are going to get ahead (or just survive) in the shark-pool, then you better have a strategy for dealing with the sharks. -- And as a subordinate this may well mean "swallowing" much uncalled-for (and counterproductive) ugliness. However, you must not let it really bother you -- while maybe pretending like it does, in order to give some sadist his jollies (this is a rather risky tactic*, but it can work).

There are also ugly games that you can play -- as long as the chain of assholes stretching above you has powerful enemies or competitors.

Of course, if we're talking that it is the one big boss that is your problem, then you're pretty much screwed, at least if you can't keep some distance. In this circumstance, one hangs on and tries to find (the somewhat) better, before one busts.

In our world, merit can count for very little. And business is often a game played on superficial levels (with little or no real accountability, and, indeed, with very little understanding of what actually produces value).

As for justice -- in practise, what's that? -- It's something hard enough to find in our courts, much less in the larger society.

*: One must balance the risk of worse and/or more frequent attacks (and attacks by others) against the possibility that giving (apparent) "satisfaction" will result in shorter attacks. This is best suited to circumstances where contact with the torturer is naturally limited. And it is ill-suited to circumstances where there is (usually) a single (primary) whipping-boy in the group. And strange as it may sound, I have actually had this tactic work for me -- although one may need to accompany it with a certain amount of coyness (that is, some "natural" apparent reluctance to "rise to the bait").

[Selatius]

9. An economy built on endless competition and inequality generates this

When you pit parties of people against one another, someone is going to be tempted to cut the first corner and bend the first rule to win. As a result, everyone else has to do the same in order to achieve parity and avoid being crushed.

The result is a cutthroat race to the top, and usually, the most vicious will win. Unfortunately, for everyone else, it becomes a race to the bottom, but your bosses and leaders make more money in the process. Somebody has to lose, and somebody has to win, and if they had their way, you're going to lose. They say it cannot be any other way. Isn't that wonderful?

[LosinIt]

10. Sometimes Karma catches up with the scoundrels

I had an evil wench for a boss. I supported this woman when others were warning me about her. It all came out later when we found out how she was playing employees against each other, and I was usually the brunt of a lot of her jokes/criticism.

HR got involved when two of the people in our group both notified HR that they were leaving the company in the same week. This sent up a red flag and there was an investigation. Come to find out she had grabbed one woman by the throat.

She almost lost her job, but was instead told that she could never be a supervisor again. She was moved into a 'Special Project'. I eventually left the company and now work for the best guy in the world and she.....

was killed in a car accident the next year. Karma.

[leftofthedial]

11. there is no justice

:sigh:

An honest, moral person can make it (to a certain level), but honesty and morality have little to do with it.

[ReadTomPaine]

12. There is another side to this.

If you are strong enough, smart enough and not afraid of confrontation, you can have the pleasure of giving these abusive people a taste of justice. People like this don't play defense very well, it's often not a complicated matter to see them off to that crossing guard job yourself. It does take a taste for confrontation and it doesn't hurt to be on excellent terms with human resources and a good lawyer.

Be the justice you wish to see.

[Cleita]

13. Your boss did what he did to you because he could.

Did he just single you out for some reason, or was his abuse equal opportunity? You may not get the justice you want right away, but usually these jerks have terrible personal lives no matter how good they may look on the surface.

Put this behind you for your own sanity and get on with your life.

[Horse with no Name]

14. It could be worse

the first guy I had sex with is one of the big wigs at Halliburton.:puke:



On edit: This wasn't meant to be condescending towards the situation that happened to you. Was talking about his promotion.
It stinks. In my world, he would be relegated to cleaning out the cages of elephants who had irritable bowel syndrome.