Being polite in a performance review from boss

 Just had my 3rd quarter review. It’s all positive. I’m good at my job and I’ve learned the people skills to pass with flying colors. I am very new to the agency though and my boss kept saying things like ‘well you’ll learn this, you’ll learn that’ on things that I’ve been doing for six months and several times phrased my work as being creditable to him (In fact he was actually given compliments on his work on this project we were doing, and every aspect that was complimented were things I had done, so it’s not just in his head, he’s telling his bosses and taking credit but that’s a different story.) I don’t need praise for doing my job or even doing it well, I don’t even want praise because it’s meaningless from someone I don’t respect, but I also don’t need you to think I still have to learn something I’ve been doing. It implies that he won’t be moving on to training in new things because he thinks I have to go over the basic stuff still. And what sucks is that he does actually have knowledge in things I’d really like to be trained on.

In addition, this guy didn’t even put the right job title on the evaluation sheet. When he asked if I had any comments I sort of jokingly said, well this isn’t actually my job title that you have listed here. I was thinking that he had merely forgotten to change that block on the form from the last employee he’d done.

His answer? « Yes it is. » Mine: I’m actually an RMS not a soil con  him: You are? Oh, ok, I’ll change it.

.... .... .... he is the team lead for five offices, but within our physical office there are only the two of us that work here. I literally work with him everyday and this guy doesn’t even know what my job is. I should also mention there are only two possibilities for job titles at this office too, so it’s not like there’s this long laundry list of possibilities. It’s absurdly simple.

Another example, I have a hyphenated last name. Legally. It is on every single legal document. When I write my name I use both every single time. And he only chooses to use the second one which is far easier to say (not that the first is actually that difficult). He once asked me who it was when he got a document sent to him organized by last name.

This inattention and acceptance of just letting things be ‘good enough’ bug the sheeeeeeit out of me as someone who strives for correctness and high quality in everything I do. It annoys me that other MBTIs (not all of them but some) don’t necessarily take any stock in these same values and just sort of float along instead of actually engaging in whatever they are doing, is that really so much to ask? God forbid if I don’t want to sit and chitchat for five hours. I mean I’ll do it because I’m not stupid enough to piss off my supervisor. I’ll play by their rules, but seriously? You don’t know my job title? You don’t even know my name?!

Anyway, had to rant, don’t have folks around that I can rant to at the moment. So anyone else? Thoughts? Experiences? - Zealousideal-Gift-53

I can't work for someone I don't respect, but I try to understand and give everyone a fair shot and always asking if my standards are reasonable because people are human and they make mistakes. Your boss gave you an ALL positive review and you said you don't need praise, yet seem perturbed he got the compliments instead of you. So where is all the spite coming from really? He clearly values your work based on the positive review.

With that said, there must be traits or connections he had that got him to where he's at, maybe he's more of a bigger picture person and leaves the smaller details to the detail-oriented people like yourself. He's incompetent to you, but people above him may not share that opinion.

Right out of college, I worked for a boss who didn't always get the small details correct, of course they weren't intentional and she would always be willing to listen and fix the mistakes. It's not that she was incompetent, it's that her focus and strength laid elsewhere. She was very intelligent when it came to finances and a real people-person, she could think and process on the fly better than me and form connections in things I could not. Yes, sometimes there'd be misspellings or a small detail that was incorrect/missed, but if you think about the scope of her job as a controller, it really puts what is important into perspective. She's not an AP/AR clerk or an Accountant.

I think with experience and time you'll see the traits that make a good manager and supervisor. It's not the ability to get every single little detail correct all the time and be able to do all of their employee's jobs immaculately; it's the ones who know how to understand and manage people below and above them.