A few days back I was listening to a conversation where someone was complaining bitterly about something that they felt was owed to them, even though it actually wasn't. I wasn't meant to be privy to this conversation at all, but the person made no secret of it by having a bit of a workplace meltdown in the office for all and sundry to hear.
Generally this kind of discussion is held in private between manager and staff member, but I think that this particular person was hoping that everyone within earshot would rally around her and support her cause. Some did and some didn't. I chose to stay out of it entirely as I think it was done in a very bad way and all it did was leave a bad taste in my mouth.
The part that annoyed me the most was the feeling of entitlement that she carried. It wasn't even backed up by work ethic or good performance. Somehow in her mind, she felt that her popularity should hold sway over the decision makers and she deserved more.
𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒈𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓. 𝑰𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑫𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒏𝒆 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏
In all of the corporate employment settings that I have been in, I have never seen this kind of thing unfold like this. It was unheard of in my time and likely would result in either a counselling session, some form of disciplinary for insubordination or the person simply being fired. Respect for the chain of command and work hierarchy was instilled in all employees back then. There was a way to deal with workplace grievances (and this certainly wasn't the way) and to ensure that your viewpoints were taken into account, but throwing a temper tantrum never resulted in someone getting a raise. It's actually rather laughable to even think that.
What I can't wrap my head around is this - instead of throwing a fit, why didn't this person actually do something more constructive? Instead of sitting idle and waiting for them to be acknowledged for the "amazing" work they do, why didn't they show ownership and demonstrate why they felt they deserved anything more than what they already were receiving? Sure, they voiced their opinion, but they hardly could substantiate it with any real evidence to back up their claim.
Unfortunately I don't believe it will fair well in the long term. Just because someone believes they do amazing work, doesn't necessarily mean that it is perceived that way by higher management and when it comes to entitlement, I doubt that this person is looking around at their peers and seeing what the work ethic or product flow is on that side and comparing apples with apples because they already have a highly inflated self image. Ego can be a person's own worst enemy in cases like this and I really don't think that they will take a critical look at themselves. Instead, they'll publicly bash management for "not acknowledging their genius".
Time will tell where this ends up, but it gave me an opportunity to look inwards and self reflect on my own work ethic, where I can improve and the aspects of myself that I am so unbelievably grateful my parents taught me at a young age. Respect, kindness, humility, diplomacy and self awareness.
Have you ever witnessed something like this before at work? Let me know in the comments.
𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝑨𝑰 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏.