Thanks, I'm glad I'm not the only one who is sort of wt* with the dumpster thing. You are absolutely right that if someone had directly told me that I should be taking the boxes to the dumpster vs. leaving them in the hall, I would have had a completely different reaction. I would have taken care of the 30 boxes I had left there before if someone had asked me to! Anonymous signs are just mean.

I am starting to have a bad feeling about my friend's position with regard to her subordinates. Apparently her entire department turned over within the past 8 months. My friend has been there a year. When I asked why, the staff wouldn't say much more than 'it was a sticky situation.' I have also heard some passing references towards her that do not sound positive, stuff like employees rolling their eyes in her direction.

I hope this micromanaging is just temporary, that once he gets to know me, once I have systems in place, he'll leave me alone. I see so much evidence of neglect that it's really frustrating to deal with someone who doesn't want to be hassled but who also won't give me enough info/empowerment to eliminate the hassle.

It's true that a good boss makes all the difference... and, boy, the power of hindsight! I had two wonderful bosses when I was just getting started out in my career, and I really did not appreciate it as much as I should have.

Does your boss recognize his weaknesses in managing people? I always kind of wonder why people who so obviously do not enjoy managing others stick with those roles. Companies promote technical experts to supervisory positions and it's just the worst thing they could do. They lose the benefit of the technical expertise, stress out a high performer, and kill morale for the poor people suffering under that person's 'leadership.'

Any word on your potential transfer?