Our Tax Dollars at (What Passes for) Work: Why my seven days at insurance giant owned by We the People, rest (un)assured!

It's an all too common story. You find a small firm, work as a marketing director, and lose the job due to layoffs. Eight months, hundreds of job applications and countless interviews later, you land an interactive marketing manager, Corporate eBusiness consulting position, at a large NYC headquartered Insurance giant, now owned and run by We the People. Sure it's not a director, VP or department head role, and the pay isn't exactly going to set your world on fire, but it's a job at a place where presumably bail out money is working hard to make a contribution, turn the company around - and provide a few folks (including you, one of the People!) with an opportunity to work on contract, until your dream job comes along, for a modest day rate.

Sounds straightforward enough - and you accept. The hiring manager, once actively involved in the interview process departs due to unforseen health issues. Undeterred, you soldier on poised and ready to bring your wisdom to this gargantuan organization. And the surprises begin on your very first day.

While it's expected for junior people to clamor and climb their way to the top, you are not a private tutor -- that's the beauty of being a consultant -- your job is to come in and apply your expertise - you are a fixer! Come in, solve a problem, and move on to the next - no fuss no muss.

However the unfortunate departure of the sick executive caused a frenzy - and said blue chip company became the Wild Wild West as one assistant slyly roped in the unclaimed title of team leader. It was news to you -- as the frontier of interactive marketing here was supposed to be yours to tame and civilize as your expertise, judgment and recommendations deemed fit. This calamitous upstart was neither mentioned nor met during your interview process - a glaring indication that the inmates are running the asylum if ever there was one.

But you proudly take your seat in the modest cube in front of the sly assistant instead of the office or private cubicle befitting optimal job performance and seniority. (Hey, it's only government money - there's plenty to go around!) From day one she attempts to introduce you as her subordinate, and generally does not play well with others. Hell, you don't even know who the others are since you have never been given a full distribution list of your team. All the while your contract specifics include heading the department's interactive marketing team - solving problems, and saving the day!

Good collaborative team player that you are, your trap is shut as you await the boss' return. The distant nature of one director and one VP, your counterparts in this turnaround endeavor, is noticeably odd. The two in "management" excel at having the lowest profile, taking refuge in their closed offices, which, like the proverbial saloon doors swung open at predictable intervals: arrive at 9:00 am, remove jacket, remain behind a closed door until lunch, exit and return within the hour, re-shut door: repeat daily. And like a pack-mule, the assistant skulked between doors, trafficking information from one to the next, taking what she could glean from you, to pass off as her own - nary a carbon copy to you. Instead of mismanaging from the top down, clearly this particular bastion of finance & insurance prefers the mud-wrestling to begin from the bottom up, when unqualified and inexperienced assistants are tasked with leadership roles too big for their boots and havng no defined purpose other than to lay claim to "their" territory.

You continued to hear a battery of basic questions from this assistant that quickly revealed an experience and knowledge gap canyons wide. The assistant tried to be discreet when she lurked around desks but her presence revealed itself in strands of the coarse, unruly hair left behind on documents, desks, and computer keyboards.

Days later a welcome email from a senior executive in another office came in requesting suggestions, ideas and an invitation to meet. You're glad someone is noticing you and you go ahead and mention this rewarding and encouraging communications to others, including you know who. You were given a rendition of "beware of Greeks bearing gifts" from the sly one as she continued drawing crooked lines in the sand to collect whatever fools' gold she could. Her VP and director bosses had no comments.

She then attempted to round up a posse of supporters -- include some, exclude others, the goal being to hijack professional communications and undermine efficient information flow. You had no choice but to duck and cover as you tried to determine why and how We the People serve this company with Our Tax money.

When your approach in another effort to obtain the team's proper contact and other information from her, she responds by taking you into an empty office where she told you that in this department, she's the sheriff in town.

And what of the activity behind closed office doors of the two phantom executives? Scared last-minute job hunting on the dime of We the People, perhps? In one of the toughest economic climates in decades, is this how bail out money is best used?

To all of those new CEOs out there (less than 4 months) take note. We the People are watching? And We expect you to do the same and manage our new investment with integrity and care. After all, it's your tax money too!

And if you dont, you are at the mercy of anyone with an Internet connection and an opinion.

Yours Very Truly