Office Nicknames

Up until a few weeks ago I had a screen-name on MSN Messenger that puzzled many people and when questioned about it, I would usually respond with "It's a long story". The truth is, it's not really a long story as much as it is a complicated one. I've decided to tell that story now as I recently changed my screen-name back to my boring old REAL moniker to avoid the questions.

Several years ago I was employed by a company, under the supervision of 2 gentleman I will refer to as "M" and "J".

M was my regional director, and J was indirectly my supervisor in that he often stepped in during M's absences. These two wonderful men taught me the basis of what I now know to be 'business acumen' and what a solid foundation it was.

They often referred to me as their "Little Protégé", and attempted to teach me everything they knew about the business world, our corporate platform and how to be a self-made success story.

Unfortunately, after several months of working my buns off to get as near the top as I could, our company was bought out by a much larger corporation in a takeover, which of course, I had been briefed on by both M and J who were familiar with the terms of the deal. As these things usually happen, the takeover became hostile, and very abruptly the larger corporation began laying off our people in favor of placing their own in those positions. M was laid off, and shortly thereafter, so was J. I was demoted back to the position I had started at, fortunately with no loss in pay, but with huge losses to my self esteem and worth.

I kept in contact with both M and J as frequently as I could, and they continued referring to me as their Little Protégé -- bolstering my self esteem as much as they could while starting new positions elsewhere.

It was no surprise that I felt extremely lost during the process -- not only had I been replaced by someone who knew nothing of our customer base, but I had lost two of the strongest professional mentors I'd ever had, and was dealing with the stress and de-motivation that comes with being put into a role I was unhappy in.

I suppose in retrospect I could have worked my way up again, but the loss of enthusiasm I felt was so overwhelming, and besides, there was the issue of morality that came into play. My standards for morals are high, but right where I believe they need to be, and I was not assured that those higher ups in the "corporate cult" had the same standards. While the almightly bottom line should never be ignored, our customer base shouldn't have been either, but frequently was. In a business like that one -- the customer was never right.

Therefore I had no enthusiasm for the company, for my coworkers, for my position or for our purpose, and I left. They got their perfunctory 2 weeks notice, and shortly after Christmas that year I joined the unwashed masses of the unemployed and was the happiest I had been in a long time. Even if I was "The Little Lost Protégé".

So almost 5 years after I gained this little nickname, I have gained a new one -- "Little Miss Type A".

I'm unsure if it's because I'm admired for my take-charge attitude, or if it's because 3/4 of the people I work with are Type Bs and they don't like me.