- New Boss:"Is the deadline realistic? Answer yes or no. No maybes."
- Me:"Well, no..."
- New Boss:"That's an unacceptable answer. We must meet that deadline."
That's just one of many examples of a typical conversation with my boss about managing expectation. He initiates as if he is interested in hearing my information, but lambasts me if they do not correspond with his expectations.
He does this almost on a regular basis and the consequence is that I and the team reporting to me have to work very abnormal hours in order to always give a positive ("acceptable") answer.
How do you approach this kind of "managing upwards" problem?