Coming to work 15 minutes early. I worked as a receptionist in a language school and I found that coming in 15 minutes before the first lesson as was company policy wasn't enough time to get everything ready, so I came 30 minutes early so that the clients wouldn't arrive to me running around and still preparing stuff. Teachers and a few clients actually praised me for always having everything ready and neat unlike the other receptionists. Still, I was scolded because I dared log those 15 minutes into my work hours (note: I was a part timer and paid basically peanuts, also I only had an early morning shift once a week). And yes I had tried telling them that 15 minutes wasn't enough but they didn't care.
My organization hired an VP, to manage between the CMO and the department heads. At the time it was a small company, so a lot things had to be requested directly from the CMO. Things like conferences and continuing Ed. I fought really hard to send my reports to events—I felt strongly that it mattered. But my proposals got shot down a lot. And the CMO thought that as the department leader, it should be me that attended (even if I offered to forgo attendance so that one of my team members could have the experience).
So one day, in a team meeting (all my reports are there) the new VP asks me if I ever let my reports attend anything or if I just keep all the opportunities for myself. As if I was the one making these decisions…
So one day, in a team meeting (all my reports are there) the new VP asks me if I ever let my reports attend anything or if I just keep all the opportunities for myself. As if I was the one making these decisions…