What to do when the entire team turns against you? [closed]

Question

I had a great relationship with my team in the past .... There is one person who's been with the company nearly 20 years. He's survived it all! Not because he is a brilliant professional, but because he is well articulated and very political.

I've witnessed things like him lending his luxury car to outsourced staff restra contractors and paying for women and nightclubs for the guys from the team. In return I see people doing his daily activities just for friendship. Believe me this guy hardly needs to move a finger because there are many people protecting him internally.

Unfortunately, I ended up going against this guy. I discovered several rumors and evil plans to overthrow a person who would be his boss. Since he discovered that I did not accept his cheating I have been totally ignored by my team. Everybody is against me. They do not help. They do not pass information. They do not call me for a break, lunch, etc ... Now they don't even say "hi" when they pass me! I'm totally isolated and being bullied.

My boss and co-workers are in another country and they will never be able to know or understand the situation. I never meant to get into politics with this guy and I am paying a high price for it. Is there anything I can do to salvage this situation?

I'm in a South American country.

Answer 1

I'm going to sum this up in case I misunderstood:

• There is a guy near the top of your organization.
• He has the support of most, if not all, of the rest of the team.
• You don't like how he comes by/ uses his power?
• You decided to go against him.

I think you irrevocably screwed up. Going after people in power is not an easy game to win and you went into it with no plan and no allies. You started playing politics with this guy the second you went against him.

My suggestion is to try to make nice until you can get out. Vindictive powerful people can end careers and you don't sound qualified for the entrenched politics that would be required to come out of this clean.

When you move on and you see someone who has unilateral support to the point where they do almost nothing, take a step back and ask yourself "How much power do they have?" The answer is a lot.

Answer 2

It sounds to me as though it is time to brush up the CV and start looking for a new job, or perhaps contact your boss and request a transfer.

There is nothing more to be gained at this job, and you will not come out of this fight as the winner. Time to move on.