My CEO is bluffing their way through the job. What can I do?

Each week, Dr Kirstin Ferguson tackles questions on workplace, career and leadership in her advice column Got a Minute? This week: concerns the leadership team is out of its depth, colleagues overstepping their authority and an unfair application of working from home policies.

I work for a government funded agency engaged with communities across Australia. My chief executive and leadership team have no background in the task and only a little understanding of the work and its complexities. Because the internal environment is messy and a bit unpredictable, our senior leaders double down on the idea that they are all over the work. The CEO is considered a guru, although in reality demonstrates a superficial understanding of the issues involved. Any tips on how to manage this? I have respectfully and appropriately offered my experience but am now seen as unhelpful. I work in a niche area, so changing jobs isn’t easy.

I understand why you feel frustrated and feel your expertise is not valued. In this situation, you are best to focus on what you can control. If only we could force all the arrogant know-it-alls out there to have a little intellectual humility.

Think about the areas where you do have people eager to hear your contributions. Perhaps it is your immediate team, the communities you work with, or other colleagues. Wherever it may be, focus on ways they can benefit from your expertise, even if your leaders are slow to catch on.

You might also think about the way you offer ideas to your senior leaders. If they consider your advice unhelpful, it may be because your suggestions have been expressed in a way (unintentionally) that highlights your frustration. Think laterally about how you can still contribute your expertise but in a way that will appear helpful to your senior leaders goals, rather than to what you may believe their priorities should be.

I work in a team of eight and within the team are two people who have taken to controlling how we do our work, getting their noses in everyone’s business and chastising people if things aren’t done the way they like. The environment is toxic and unpleasant. Our team co-ordinator is useless and relies heavily on these two people to help him do his job, so he does whatever is needed to keep them both happy. Upper management won’t say or do anything to rein in this behaviour. Any suggestions on how to handle this?

It is clear your team co-ordinator is totally unsuited for the job they are in, so the easy (not so easy) answer would be to for you and your five teammates to go together to a more senior leader and explain what is going on. I realise doing that is much easier for me to say than for you to do, but if you and the others all feel the same way, it is really the only way anything is going to change.

If you and your teammates don’t want to raise these issues with anyone else, the best you can do is to set boundaries with the two people by remembering they are your colleagues and not your supervisors. When they come to chastise you or tell you what you should be doing, say: “Thanks, I’ve got this covered.” They have no formal authority to be acting in the way you describe and will soon get the idea if you and the team push back. Ultimately though, these strategies are likely to be of limited value if the issue of your team co-ordinator is not addressed.

Despite HR’s recent policy allowing two days of remote work in my organisation, my manager is holding back my request, saying my team might only get one day – or none. Meanwhile, my manager often works from home. It feels unfair. What should I do?

That does seem unfair. Ask your manager for clarity by saying something like: “My understanding is the company policy for working from home is two days for everyone. Can you please help me understand how that policy will be applied to our team too?” This will put the onus on your manager to explain their position.

Or if you are feeling a little feisty, perhaps say: “I notice you have been using the company policy to work two days per week from home and was keen to see how I can do the same.” The goal is for your manager to understand you are aware of the entitlement and would like to use it.

If the conversation fails, you may need to involve HR. Before that stage, check with others in your team to see if anyone else is feeling the same way. You can then go together to ask about this policy.

To submit a question about work, careers or leadership, visit kirstinferguson.com/ask. You will not be asked to provide your name or any identifying information. Letters may be edited.

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