Russ Lowry tells early-career workers to raise problems with your immediate supervisor first, not your boss's boss. Skipping levels makes enemies and escalates things. The only exception: serious criminal matters go straight up.
Today we're going to talk about some internal politics, things we're going to call this follow the chain of command. As you guys are starting your careers. I've already talked to a few of you about issues you face with supervisors, co workers, potential problems you'll see in an organization. And one thing the old man my dad taught me, being an ex master sergeant, weapons instructor and boot camp, so he's in the army about six years, is follow the chain of command. So if you're having a problem with somebody, say a co worker, you don't go right to the president of the company or jump up over your next supervisor. So, and this might sound like simple stuff, but it's amazing how often people can screw up and cause more trouble for themselves because they don't realize this, especially young folks. Maybe you haven't worked in the, the workforce and politics are politics. They've been the same for decades. Back when I was at Reynolds Tobacco, when I was at Farmers Insurance. Now that I'm an independent insurance agent, we still have some politics. So when you're in an organization, you never want to jump over your immediate supervisor. Bring them in on it, see if they can fix it. Don't threaten them. Let them have the chance to fix it. Because when you jump over a supervisor, it makes them look bad. You can make an enemy that you don't want to have just because you were impatient. Maybe they, they said, hey, give me a, give me a day, or something like that. So always follow your chain of command, going up the ladder to the next person, not jumping over a couple of people. You know, maybe unless it's something super, super serious, a felony, some kind of assault perhaps, but you always want to follow that chain of command. Even the upper levels appreciate that. Nobody wants anything on their desk they don't have to have. But if they can deal with it at a lower level, sometimes they can put, put a damper and solve it really quickly and it doesn't blow up and ruin someone's career. But you know, you have to use your, your best judgment on that if it's something super serious. But in general, if you're having a problem with a co worker, you don't go over your supervisor's head or their supervisor's head or boss's head to the head of a department. You solve it in the lowest level possible, be professional about it, let that supervisor do it, and you'll get a lot of respect for everybody else around you, especially the higher ups. They'll find out at some point. Most Likely. But you won't make any enemies that you shouldn't have and you'll help solve stuff a lot easier. And again, you think I just say this because I've seen it time and time again. People get pissed off and they're like, screw that. I'm not even going to my boss. I'm going to my boss's boss or up. You know, I'm calling someone in the company. A vice president or president never works out well for anybody. Sometimes they both get fired. So again, follow a chain of command. Your next in line supervisor, give them a chance to fix it, then you can go up the ladder to the next one. If they didn't, that's going to ensure you have a pretty good career in life. And this will be something. As you have your own company, you deal with that as well. I don't deal very well with some of the employee issues. I just can't relate. My chief operations officer is the linchpin. So all the small petty stuff comes to her. She filters it out only if it's really important or some something she needs clarification on. And I get a generalization. Say, boss, will you clarify how this bonus works? I'm like, why are you asking this? Well, some people have asked me. So she takes the heat for everyone else instead of having 15 people come at me. And I appreciate that. So think about that as you work in your career fields, as you own your own businesses, as you go through life again. This has come up a couple of times lately and I felt, hey, I'm throw my two cents in here on this subject.
