Getting Along

10

The Political Operator

“If you aren’t moving up, you’re falling behind.”

Owen thought his colleague Clarissa was on his side. After the birth of his second child, he took a semester’s paternity leave as the chair of the English department at a small university, and Clarissa agreed to fill in temporarily. Then, a few weeks into his leave, he heard from two different colleagues that Clarissa had said in a meeting that she was hoping to take over as chair when Owen was “ready to step down” or if “he decided not to come back.” That made Owen a bit nervous (he had every intention of returning to his role), though he was pleased that he’d have a competent successor if and when he was ready to step aside.

Then, two weeks later, Clarissa called to ...