bleedvalve said:
Bleedvalve,
I really don't know where you are coming from in including me in any group of people who are involved in "blackballing" others for a difference of opinion. I have my own opinions on everything and have fought very hard through multiple companies for the free expression of opinion.
At most "Ma and Pop" companies you are at the whim of one person's emotional state, and this is the reason that on Monday it's the best company in the world and by Friday you'd rather hang yourself than come back to work the next day.
Larger companies are insulated against the day to day mood pendulums but are subject to a corporate culture in which everyone is a number and getting your voice heard is very tough.
One has to be adaptable in order to survive. This means understanding the hidden, unspoken rules and being many different people. It's sort of like flying in a two-pilot cockpit with a guy that likes something you hate... you keep that to yourself or your tour will be unbearable. It's not a question of subduing part of who you are, it's more like growing your personality in different ways. Winning (by being successful) in this environment is rewarding in and of itself.
When it seems that the whole world is against you (I don't mean you personally... I have been in that boat... it's very lonely), at some point you have to turn that Laser-like vision on yourself and spend a little time on introspection. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Many is the time I was right about something but still lost... why? Because sometimes the subject of the fight became secondary to the fight itself.
Learn to walk away... smile when you really want to go out and get your Uzi... understand that everybody has something important to add... try not to judge others and don't ever write anyone else off... the list goes on but it's all about attitude. You say that attitude shouldn't count but it most definintely does. I don't remember who said it but it's so true, "life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react...". That is completely based on your attitude.
As for blackballing, I have hired many pilots and not once did I ever come across a "blackball" system. I could and did hire the people that I thought were right for the job. Many times it wasn't based on total time or experience, but on a willingness and eagerness on the part of the candidate... and his/her attitude!
If you fit the bill for some job I was trying to fill I would judge you based on all available information... with the greatest weight placed on my ability to judge whether or not you'd "fit in". A chronic trouble-maker with a black cloud following him around would be unlikely to be hired.
Why? A company is not one person... it functions because all the constituent components work well together. If you expect the "whole" to exceed "the sum of the parts", you need people who work well together and who have a common goal... personal and professional advancement... and the good of the company... which is the hand that feeds them.
I strongly suspect that you are lacking in some of these qualities, but having never met you I can't say that with certainty. Perhaps it's how you come across in print. I would certainly give you the benefit of the doubt if we were to meet face to face... and would expect the same courtesy.
HV
