I was in a leadership position, and today, I was let go. I managed a whole organization with many managers who reported to me. They're all gone. I've been talking to my now-former boss for the last year about moving into a VP position. He's agreed with me and even told me he was going to make it happen. Then, out of nowhere, this happened—right after I reported some sexual harassment to HR. I've already spoken to a lawyer about the next steps.
I made this post for two reasons. The first is to vent—I'm angry and tired. The second is to see if anyone else has run into this pattern of events.
Looking back over my career, I usually don't have difficulty finding a leadership role with more pay, responsibility, etc. The pattern is that I usually get hired by a great boss. But then, around a year or so later, a new one comes in and takes their place. Then I either start having problems or I don't hear anything for months, even a year. Then, all of a sudden, all at once, I'm suddenly this bad employee and leader, and I'm treated as such. I love technology and my people. Manmy has been reaching out, saying I was their best boss and they loved me. Also, I had the top peakon survey scores for my entire organization for the last two years. If you don't know this, it's an internal survey sent to all employees asking how they feel about their job, boss, bosses, work environment, training, etc. It's a way to gauge if you have a bad leader in place and other things.
Anyway, I did some research and learned that this cycle of events is not new to black males in leadership within technology. Staying that we are held to a higher expectation than others, perceived as bad leaders, often victims to "sudden bad employee" syndrome (I didn't know this was a thing), and that it's just more challenging for our people to move up and stay up in tecnolg9oy. I also learned that this pattern is more common than I realize. The usual state of events I described is usually the set pattern. Get hired by a boss who either supports diversity, hires for the best, or is maybe a supporter. Then, the next person comes in with their existing biases and expectations to have that all "look like me" leadership team. Which I do not fit into. Then, slowly but surely, they start to tear you down, find or create fault, and criticize everything you do.
Anyway, thoughts? I was just wondering if anyone else has encountered this.
I made this post for two reasons. The first is to vent—I'm angry and tired. The second is to see if anyone else has run into this pattern of events.
Looking back over my career, I usually don't have difficulty finding a leadership role with more pay, responsibility, etc. The pattern is that I usually get hired by a great boss. But then, around a year or so later, a new one comes in and takes their place. Then I either start having problems or I don't hear anything for months, even a year. Then, all of a sudden, all at once, I'm suddenly this bad employee and leader, and I'm treated as such. I love technology and my people. Manmy has been reaching out, saying I was their best boss and they loved me. Also, I had the top peakon survey scores for my entire organization for the last two years. If you don't know this, it's an internal survey sent to all employees asking how they feel about their job, boss, bosses, work environment, training, etc. It's a way to gauge if you have a bad leader in place and other things.
Anyway, I did some research and learned that this cycle of events is not new to black males in leadership within technology. Staying that we are held to a higher expectation than others, perceived as bad leaders, often victims to "sudden bad employee" syndrome (I didn't know this was a thing), and that it's just more challenging for our people to move up and stay up in tecnolg9oy. I also learned that this pattern is more common than I realize. The usual state of events I described is usually the set pattern. Get hired by a boss who either supports diversity, hires for the best, or is maybe a supporter. Then, the next person comes in with their existing biases and expectations to have that all "look like me" leadership team. Which I do not fit into. Then, slowly but surely, they start to tear you down, find or create fault, and criticize everything you do.
Anyway, thoughts? I was just wondering if anyone else has encountered this.
