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I got promoted recently. I've noticed that since then, my manager gets angry on me quite frequently and on trivial issues.

I ignore it, and take his feedback in positive light, but it's uncomfortable especially when he gets ballistic on me during team meetings as well and also kind of puzzling as to why the promotion changed his behaviour.

Is this a situation that can be resolved? If so, how?

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    Did the manager approve the promotion initially when it was announced ? Was he happy for you when he notified you that you got the promotion in a private meeting between you two ? If he happily approved the promotion back then, it is unlikely that he is upset about it now. Feb 15, 2022 at 5:51
  • Yes, he was the one who lobbied for it. Nobody else did. He had told me that he was trying to get me a promotion mid last year
    – androidguy
    Feb 15, 2022 at 5:53
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    Questions asking what choice to make are off topic and I think that's why you got a close vote. I've made an edit that 1) is I think is what you're actually asking anyway and 2) doesn't invalidate the existing answer. If I'm way off base you can roll it back and clarify what your goal is in your own edit.
    – BSMP
    Feb 16, 2022 at 3:28

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Congratulations for the new role!

Then, to anwer the question: there is only one foolproof way to find out: talk to them.

There might be many reasons why the behaviour appears to have been changed, and since you mentioned he is the one lobbied for you to get promoted, then it's highly unlikely that he is upset about it now. There are couple of cases which comes to mind (but we cannot tell for sure anyways):

  • You were good in your previous role and probably exhibited signs that you are ready to handle some more responsibilities, but maybe the expectation is falling short now, while you are actually handling the extra responsibilities. Anything that appears minor, is not necessarily minor, and may have a larger impact on a bigger picture.
  • It may happen that you are repeating the same mistakes. Even if they are minor, repeated mistakes are a strict no-no. Making new mistakes are usually understood.
  • Did the promotion change your behaviour / attitude in any way? Do some self-retrospect.
  • It maybe just that they are having a bad time (as you have guessed).

Based on the existing level of comfort you have with your manager - try to invite him for a feedback meeting, and gently ask him how you can help him to help you avoid getting into these situations. Take the feedback, acknowledge them and prepare a mitigation / improvement plan. Show them that you're willing to work towards resolving the problem. Then, observe is that is changing the situation or not. You may need couple of iterations (usually not more than that) to find out the root cause of the problem and to solve it.

Best of luck.

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    I've had this experience when interviewing for a role and varying the rubric by level, there are times where for a senior role a mistake you make will be relegated as minor, but if this was for the staff role I'd have marked you as a NO for the position as by that point you're expected to handle it. Its also possible that whats happening here is that in your managers eyes this promotion you got should have made things easier, but he feels like now that you've got it you're not exactly doing more
    – TheM00s3
    Feb 15, 2022 at 23:24

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