Like a boss

I emailed a few questions back to HR last night and expected to have responses waiting for me this morning as I went to work with the idea that this was the big day, time to tell the boss. Sure enough, upon arrival, all my questions were thoroughly answered except one for which I was promised quick resolution. So there was no dealbreaker in sight. The "new boss" said, once I determined that there is >70% chance that I will take the job (he actually specified that #) I need to go tell my boss ASAP to get the ball rolling on the transfer as he can slow down the process if he really wants to.

At this point it is definitely >70%, though I can't quite pinpoint a value. I have to tell the boss. I quickly consulted a guy that transferred out of my department and had to do the same thing. Our boss is a bit, say, aloof, and with this guy, the boss acted like he barely gave a shit. Believe it or not, that's a good thing. The last thing you want in this case is a boss who will overstate your value to him and attempt to block your trade.

For years I've daydreamt about this very moment: the chance to say adios to the boss because I was moving on to greener pastures. Not that I have anything against my aloof boss but doesn't everyone sorta fantasize about this? If not, then maybe that's another reason why this move is a good thing. I had some free time around 3 PM and was stalking the boss's vacant office but finally left a Post-It on his chair: "Jim, when you get the chance, give me a call. -Mike"

I then felt ill as I sat in my chair waiting for the phone to ring. Luckily, the next ring (an hour later) would be him but at least I didn't have a bunch of bozos calling me with dumb questions and making me think it was him every time the phone rang. I answered the phone and my boss goes into fake over enthusiastic over annunciated voice mode as though being less aloof is in his character development plan for things he needs to work on this year. I headed down to his office.

I walked in and shut the door behind me. I've done that maybe 3 times in my career and the boss always instantly gets the deer-caught-in-headlights look. If I was the boss, this might be the one thing I couldn't handle: incompetent subordinates coming to talk to me about why they can't do their job right. Whenever someone closes the door it has to be either incompetence, complaining about their pay or that they are quitting. The first words out of my mouth were, "I'll try and cut to the chase. My wife and I want to broaden our horizons."

As I was explaning that I already have a job offer on the table from Taiwan and I plan on accepting it, he was doing a lot of blinking and swallowing. I then went into timeframe for when I think I need to leave for Taiwan and he talked a bit about what the negotiation process was the last time someone transferred INTO our group. I think I was actually sincere in apologizing that I did this secretively and threw in a great cliche: "It's just business..."

One great thing about this boss is he will never admit that he's up against the ropes so he brushed it off and said everything was great. We talked a bit about what my new position and job duties would be and he even suggested trekking in Nepal and noted that he had met some Taiwanese climbers out there. Overall, I was very pleased with his reaction and he said he would be very supportive of whatever exit strategy time frame would work best for me. It couldn't have gone any better.

With that said, I actually am closer to HIS boss whom I used to work. I asked my boss to notify the boss's boss ASAP as I wanted to:

A) Not step on his toes and spread the news myself.
B) Not walk by the boss's boss in the hallway and pretend nothing is up while I wait for the boss to break the news.

Unfortunately, he was gone for the day so that routine will have to take place on Monday. I'm thinking he'll be a bit disappointed as he has more value for human life and will call me in and be like, "WTF are you thinking?!?!" But it's really water under the bridge at this point. I expect my last question to be answered by Taiwan on Monday and I'll give them the thumbs up to proceed with the transfer. I think Taiwan will push for me to get there ASAP, but considering what I need to do to square away things in the U.S., I think I will push for a May 1 transfer. HR Taiwan mentioned something in the compensation package talk, "If you arrive on April 1..." so while they may express a little disappointment in May 1, I think it is reasonable.

As I left the building today I felt like the weight of the world was off my shoulders, but I didn't have the feeling that I fantasized about. I didn't feel like I was sticking it to the man but rather:

• lucky that I had a boss that was so cooperative
• lucky that I work for a company that can offer such an opportunity
• lucky that my wife is willing to go along with this

I think sticking it to the man is bad karma.