Toxic VP - how to go about it?
Hi Monkeys,
I am a 2nd year monkey at a BB. Wanted to seek your advice on how to deal with what I think is a toxic VP. To illustrate what working with individual in question is like, let me describe a recent staffing.
Situation: We were preparing a short book for a meeting about which we learnt 8pm the day before. I stayed late at night to get to somewhat decent draft, and then during the day we iterated the material to get final version as the meeting was in the afternoon. During these day-time iterations:
(i) VP asked me about the status of materials, when I informed him that they are being reviewed by the Associate he accepted it. 10 minutes later, he came back to my desk saying that Associate told him that he has already reviewed it and I should print it for him. I called the Associate (who was working from home) and he confirmed he hasn't reviewied it yet and did not speak to the VP
(ii) Later on, VP came to my desk giving me some direct comments. I started implementing them and he asked "Would it be fine if I stay next to you?". I didn't mind and said "Yes". He responded "Great, cause I would like to put more pressure on you" and stood next to my desk so close that our bodies would touch until I implemented all of the comments (both of us are male).
(iii) When we got to close to what supposed to be final version, we discovered some reconcilation issue. When VP asked about the status of materials, I told him we are reconciling figures and the deck will be ready soon. He proceeded to trash talk about me and Associate, as to how we can have "different EBITDAs" across few pages, and lack some "basic skills". Then, he turned to one of the senior Associates not involved in the staffing and continued to trash talk on us in foreign language (both VP and senior Associate are from the same country).
How would you proceed when working with such a douchebag? Is this worth raising with seniors/HR, or am I just turning into a snowflake?
Note, I am not a top 1% Analyst, but was ranked well in the first year and gained good rep through deals I worked on in the first year.
hahaha, you should definitely raise with HR and your group head.
Make sure to complain about a lack of safe spaces and trigger warnings in the group and remind your group head that he/she needs to check their privilege.
Thanks for your response.
Not sure is speaking to the group head would help much as VP in question recently got promoted. Believe he is preceived by seniors as "efficient" and "he gets stuff done". However, most of Analysts on my group or from other groups, who worked with him, share the view that something is off.
His comment was sarcastic fyi if u couldn’t tell…
LOL this sounds super gay. Maybe he's butthurt you are not accepting his advances and has massive sexual frustration from being in the closest and he's taking it out on you.
Does he strike you as a guy that's getting laid by other men, or repressing it? (you mentioned he is a foreigner, which may mean culturally its harder for him to be "out" as being GAY and OUT in Asia or India is more frowned upon)
Put him in touch with your DEI rep in the firm. Get this guy OUT and FREE to be his TRUE HOMO SELF. Gay Pride Month is coming up in NYC and this guy can have the TIME OF HIS LIFE in June. Imagine how much more chill he will be to work for then!
Bump
Sounds italian lmao
While defo problematic, this is nothing compared to real toxic VPs..
If you want to raise this, careful how / who you raise this with. He will get the download that someone said x / y / z about him and he might try to get back at you with force...seen this happening and ain't pretty
If you are not embellishing what happened and were seriously low key sexually assaulted, I would go to a senior person you trust or the group head, and say you want to speak off the record, and after reiterating you’re not looking to cause drama with HR, tell him what a f*cking weirdo creep the vp is, how he advises you to handle him in the future and let him know another sexual taunt will result in you formally reporting him.
Going to put this out there for all juniors.
If you screw up, if you do something stupid, you will get some variation of feedback, yelling or talking down to.
That does not mean you should be disrespected. Unfortunately that happens, and it's on you to stand up for yourself. Stomp that shit out before anyone thinks you're a pushover.
OP, your VP is a loser and that's a massive understatement. "I would like to put more pressure on you" is just stupid hardo crap. Trash talking an analyst to associates, doing it in a foreign language. Like this is just bitch insecure behavior.
I'm not in banking so what is acceptable in my industry might be different from banking but I have dealt with an asshole boss like this before so here's what I recommend.
ii) An "accidental" swivel of the chair with an elbow to the nuts should solve this. I'm half joking when I say this, but if he literally wants to breathe down your neck, he deserves it. This behavior is also textbook bullying/harassment and can be reported to HR but I understand the reluctance to go down that road.
iii) Whatever the language is, learn it. At least the basics so that the next time he does something like this (which definitely will happen based on what you said above) you can say something like "I don't appreciate being insulted behind my back" in the language. At a minimum, this should earn you some respect so that you get treated like an adult.
Take advantage of anytime you can spend with other VPs/groups you could move into. You are probably stuck with this guy in the short term and the only real escape will be to change groups/employers.
This guy had zero friends in high school and college and sucks now, but he probably really enjoyed telling himself in the mirror how badass he was.
You can / should tell HR about the touching, banks are different now and you want it on the record (especially as potential leverage in lay off situation).
However, once you do that, it'll only get worse - you'll either not be staffed on stuff or he'll retaliate some other way. Unless he is a nobody in the group, then you should be in the clear.
(i) he's being a dick
(ii) you could nab him for harassment. there's nothing in the bro code of IB that encourages his waist touching your shoulder, or whatever the fuck happened there
(iii) meh, if his complaints are factually correct, the you deserve the trashing. similar if you're a monolingual.
Aliquid quo magni magni in. Laboriosam non cupiditate tempore modi laborum non inventore impedit. Ad sit vel recusandae quo rerum nemo porro laboriosam.
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