THE PROBLEM
My new boss doesn't rate me at all. What can I do?My chief executive has just been fired. He was my mentor and under him I have been rapidly promoted. The new guy is political and has his favourites. I've had a some run-ins with him in the past and he neither likes me nor rates me. I don't want to leave; I like the work and money and the culture. How do I convince him I'm worth keeping? Doing great work won't achieve that - I've done that before and he's never noticed. I don't think being smarmy is going to work either. Any ideas?
我的新老板完全不看好我。我该怎么办？我们公司的首席执行官刚刚被解雇。他是我的辅导人，在他手下，我擢升很快。这个新上任的家伙搞办公室政治，而且有自己中意的人。我过去跟他有过一点口角，他对我是既不喜欢也不看好。我不想走；我喜欢这份工作、喜欢这份收入、也喜欢公司文化。我怎样才能让他相信我值得留下呢？好好工作并不能实现这个目标--我以前一直都好好工作，而他从来没注意过。我觉得奉承也不会有用。您有何高见呢？
LUCY'S ANSWER
Things are looking irredeemably grim for you. Your new boss will be choosing his new team even as I write this, and chances are you won't be on it. He neither likes nor rates you and there's little you can do to change that. Don't even think of going to see him and telling him how great you are. He'd still think you hopeless, but would put you down as a pain and a bragger too.
对你来说，情况似乎真的糟糕得不能再糟糕了。就在我写这个回答的时候，你的新老板可能正在挑选自己的新团队，而你很可能不在其中。他既不喜欢你也不看好你，而你又不能做什么来改变这种情况。去见他、告诉他你有多棒--这个你连想都不要想。他还是会觉得你没有希望，而且会把你当成一个讨厌鬼、一个吹牛大王。
Your best hope is that for some political reason he finds getting rid of you is more problematic than keeping you. If so, you'll have more time to work on him. You are right that working hard is unlikely to impress him: in my experience good work always goes undetected by a boss intent on seeing your flaws.
你可以指望的最好情况就是，出于某些政治原因，他发现撤掉你比留住你更成问题。如果这样的话，你可能会与他共事更长时间。有一点你说得对：努力工作不可能给他留下好印象：以我的经验来看，如果老板有意挑你的毛病，他就永远看不到你工作出色。
Smarmy might work better, though it is difficult to bring off. It only succeeds when done in precisely the way that individual likes best. It sounds as if you are the last person to be able to get this right with him.
奉承也许会更有用，不过很难奏效。只有用那个人最喜欢的方式去奉承他，才会成功。不过，听起来你是最不能恰当奉承他的人了。
You say he doesn't rate or like you, but do you rate or like him? I get the strong impression you don't. This means that setting out to please him may turn your stomach - and make you wonder if the effort is worth it.
你说，他不看好你、不喜欢你。但是，你看好他、喜欢他吗？我强烈感到，你也不喜欢他。这意味着，取悦他也许会让你大倒胃口--而且还会让你怀疑这种努力值不值。
So even if you survive the first cut, you are not going to do well or be happy for as long as he stays chief executive. Maybe you reason that he'll be fired soon and that you can hang on until then. If that's your strategy, next time you must obey the fundamental law of political organisations: one mentor is not enough.
所以，就算你挺过了第一次裁人，只要他还是首席执行官，你就不会干得好或心情舒畅。也许你会想，他很快就会被解雇，你可以挺到那个时候。如果这就是你的策略，那么，下一次你必须遵守政治组织的基本法则：一个辅导人是不够的。
All this is probably hypothetical, as I daresay you'll be out on your ear soon. So start looking for another job today, but don't do anything hasty. It would be a mistake to jump before you are pushed. The great thing about being pushed is that you tend to get paid handsomely for the privilege
所有这些也许只是假设，因为我敢说你很快就会遭到突然解雇。所以，从今天开始再找一份工作吧，但不要匆忙行事。在受到逼迫之前跳槽是错误的。受到逼迫的好处是，你往往会因此而拿到一大笔钱。
