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Some new hires shake up a team’s dynamic for the better. This one arrived and systematically dismantled one employee’s confidence.

One corporate employee been running her program successfully before her new boss joined the corporate office of a retail giant, someone who, according to her, has no real grasp of the work she oversees yet consistently pushes his own ideas anyway.

Meetings became a pattern of getting cut off mid-sentence, endless document revisions that ate up time better spent solving actual problems, and a level of dismissiveness that left her in tears after every single one for an entire year.

Now, burnt out and actively job hunting in a rough market, she’s stuck navigating daily interactions that are visibly taking a toll on her mental health.

Keep reading for the full story.

My manager (M) demeans me (F)in every single meeting. Can’t quit until I have another offer in hand.

I work in the corporate office of a retail giant. This man joined the company last year, and my entire existence at the workplace changed post that.

This man singlehandedly made the job unbearable for her.

This person is a chauvinist and cannot handle opinionated women.

He has no idea of the program I handle and tries to push his ideas on me even though I know that it’s not going to benefit the program.

His idea of productivity doesn’t make any sense at all.

He pushes for multiple iterations of the same document, and I often end up spending more time making these documents than solving the actual problem.

Reasoning with him is out of the question, as he cuts me off mid-sentence all the time.

It’s really starting to impact her mental health.

I’ve literally cried after every single meeting with him in the past year and have completely burnt out.

She feels like no one else has the courage to speak up.

Others in the team feel the same but also end up enabling his behaviour by being “yes men.” It’s so exhausting and is also shattering my confidence to speak up in meetings.

She knows she needs to leave, but there isn’t a straightforward exit path.

I’m actively looking for a new job, but the market conditions are bleak. Dealing with this man every day is wrecking my health and nervous system, and I don’t know what to do.

What a complete nightmare.

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

It’s time to get HR involved.

Playing dumb can be surprisingly effective.

Maybe it’s time for a reset on her perspective.

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Sometimes detachment is the only way out.

A full year of tears after every single meeting isn’t a sign of oversensitivity.

In fact, it’s a clear indicator that something in that dynamic was unsustainable from the very start.

Pushing ideas onto a program he doesn’t understand, dismissing the person who actually runs it. This boss lacked the humility to know things were already running perfectly fine without his tinkering.

It may take a while, but it’s worthwhile to find a boss that doesn’t make their employees feel like garbage.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.