I've been so pissed after a VP screwed me over. I am one of those people that's always willing to help others out. I was in the middle of a major deal and this VP needed some help on a smaller deal. I stayed late and finished as much as I could on that deal. I send the VP an email to critique it and get back to me with comments. It was 2 weeks without hearing anything so I assumed everything was good to go. All of a sudden, I am called in into my managing director's office who decides to grill me for refusing to help. Apparently, the VP told him, I was too busy with this big deal and refused to be a team player. I told my managing director I sent an email to the VP and told him to get back to me with comments on the deal package I was working on. He refused to care since a VP has more credibility than an analyst.
I been pissed off all weekend about it. Anyways, how much crap have you gotten as an analyst since starting?
Sounds normal. I find that a lot of stuff gets taken out of context & is passed on as gossip at my bank. Often, it will fall on the wrong ears (like your MD's), who will immediately assume the worst & wont hesitate to burn you.
Happened to me a few times
Sorry to hear that man. At my job, I rarely got blamed for shit. In a way though, it was kind of worse, since it was like no one acknowledged my presence
You know what they say...shit rolls downhill. You're at the bottom of the hill.
ah..the infamous shit chart. yes, it sucks but boo fucking hoo. learn from it and next time, go up to the VP and ask him personally if anything needs to get done and follow up - your email is just an email, it could get deleted in a click so just learn from this and keep your head up - you're not the only one, trust me
I don't see why you don't forward the email to your MD to restore your credibility.
Don't do this.
If someone wants to blame you, just let them. If you want to save your credibility at the expense of your VP's credibility - be prepared to get fucked for the next 6months (minimum).
Totally agree with hamm0. It will be like that for an Analyst. Once you become Associate or VP you will be the one blaming Analysts.
amphipathic, I would really not want to do that. I am not the type of guy that wants to start a fight with a VP. Also, the VP never really had anything against me.
beny23, honestly it wasn't just about blaming me, its just that I don't know why he couldn't just come talk to me instead of going straight to my MD. If I become a VP, I'd never do that shit. I would go to the analyst and tell him to fix it, instead of screwing them over. It's just frustrating because I had a decent reputation and now because of one small thing people might think I am lazy.
Anyways, I'll stop. Anyone have any stories that are more interesting than mine?
Gotcha, I'm not as good at navigating these sorts of office politics, I'm sure you guys know better
It's not about office politics son, it's about respecting the damn Chain of Command.
I would have forwarded the email if I was losing my job, or moving somewhere else anyways... But when you have to work with the guy for another 6 months, you have to let it go. I'm sure your MD already has.
At least no one threw a printer at you.
in my experience, if youre good and everyone knows it, you can call out the VP for being a douche - this obviously is not your fault.
if youre a bad-to-average analyst, i'd just take it and move on, not much you can do about it.
always keep a paper trail of this kind of shit and keep as many people in the loop while not being one of the douchefucks who cc every other person in the office
your approach is proper and i would just keep a level head on this. don't know how you're perceived by your peers but if people know you handle your business and this guy is being a fuckhead then you come off way better if you just let him be an asshole. i'm definitely the junior in my group and even if i and everyone else knows that someone else fucked up on something, i always either take the blame or at the very least don't say shit about who fucked up on it.
if it's something major that could cost you your job then obviously say something. if your md is level headed, they're likely doing it to appease this VP. unfortunately even if this vp is worthless, hierarchy is extremely important. it sucks to take shit like this but that's just how it is. id redouble your efforts, use any spare time to help this guy out, and then see how things go from there. likely to blow over if you don't get into anymore shit.
man makes me glad to be at a place with less bureaucracy:
1) make friends with your MD - this takes developing rapport, etc. - if you are rounding out your stint anyway then it might not be worth it, but it never hurts 2) you can always subtly undermine said VP in the future...
Shitty situation but I would have followed up on your email after 2 or so days of no reply asking if there's any update on this deal/how you can help.
You should've followed up - lesson learned.
Sign his e-mail address up for spam and gay porn. Don't let him know that it was you until your last day and then say "so, you do receive e-mails."
On a serious note, this has happened multiple times to me on internships. I had one MD I worked for come over and talk to me about a project that I had done that he thought was great and a good way of doing things. Another MD made it a point to (incorrectly) say that he had thought of the idea. All I could do was take it in the shorts and not say anything.
[quote=LHDan]Sign his e-mail address up for spam and gay porn. Don't let him know that it was you until your last day and then say "so, you do receive e-mails."[/quote=LHDan]
Bahahahahaha.
I had a file thrown at me after my MD messed up and was looking for a scape goat...
Had a file threw at me once, it was an awkward stare down. I didn't back down from her death stare, but I was on my way out and three weeks later I just walked out with my resignation on my desk.
I would never let someone throw shit at me. I would sue and/or kick their ass. No exceptions. No job is worth that kind of disrespect.
I don't get blamed. I don't fuck up and my superiors aren't the type of douchebags to blame me when I don't. Life is good
Just walked into his office this morning with a huge smile on my face and asked if he need helped on anything. Didn't mention anything about the other deal. Acted like the bigger man. He seemed like he already forgot.
This is why you should never delete an email, no matter how trivial. Just archive it in that deal's misc folder and move on. If it came to the point where you may be seriously reprimanded then you can have it to cover your backside, otherwise, do what others have suggested and move on knowing you most likely won't have to work with that douche for much longer.
Happens all the time, and unfortunately sh*t rolls downhill as no one wants to look like the incompetent one. Understand that it comes with the territory as an analyst, and make sure you have a paper trail in case a situation goes beyond getting yelled at/your ego being bashed/having a folder thrown at you.
I'm going to offer a little bit of a different perspective: The Managing Director made a mistake here. The MD should not accept the Vice President throwing you under the bus. That is completely unacceptable. Particularly when the performance in question is that of the most junior person, the responsibility to get the task done ultimately falls to the VP. To blame it on you and deflect liability, whether it was your fault or not, is an amateur move. Most MDs will recognize this and give the VP a speech without ever involving the analyst. The MD should never have even spoken to you about the matter.
You'll find in your career that people will lose respect for you if you try to deflect blame. Whether it is investment banking / consulting / private equity, you generally work in teams and the objective is to make the "team" successful. The last thing a manager wants to hear is "that's not my job" or "I got my work done in time." This is a direct path to a poor review.
Chalk this one up to a learning experience. Early in my investment banking years I got chastised by a VP for attempting to throw my associate under the bus (believe me, he deserved it). The move ended up hurting me a lot more than helping me. Since then I've learned to always fall on the sword, whether or not I truly believe I was at fault. I'd recommend this path to anyone.
This. I have to say this shows quit a lot of inexperience from your vp and md.
Love that thread pic ;-)
Just a part of the process, earn your ability to do the same
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