This Week's Problem: Help! My boss is a mean girl 😭
POV: Your boss runs the team like a clique, and you're stuck performing enthusiasm for terrible ideas just to survive
Does anyone else hate the phrase “Happy Humpday,” or is it just me? Lol. Either way, welcome back to the mid-week edition of That’s a Monday Me Problem, where I answer your most pressing questions!
This week’s problem comes from someone navigating a workplace where proximity to power matters more than performance. It’s the kind of environment where struggle gets romanticized, access is uneven, and unspoken rules carry more weight than actual job descriptions.
When the cost of staying is constantly editing yourself to fit someone else’s expectations, the question becomes less about how to succeed and more about how to get out before you forget who you were when you walked in.
Our situation this week:
My boss runs the team like a sorority with a hazing problem. There's an inner clique in leadership with serious "we suffered so you have to suffer" energy. Newer employees are expected to pay their dues, and we've lost a lot of great people who weren't willing to play along. She also has a habit of making her personal preferences everyone else's problem — think comments like "I pushed through hard things, so why can't you?" when anyone raises a concern. I love the actual work, but surviving means pretending to be enthusiastic about decisions I don't believe in. I want to outlast her, so how do I do that without completely losing myself in the process?
My advice:
I hear you, and I need you to know — I have been here.
