I had the unfortunate experience of joining a team at NYSERDA led by a senior staff member whose career was on the rise, and whose rapid success at the time of my hiring gave them confidence and latitude to bully me. I witnessed an increasing number of warning signs of toxic leadership over a period of several years: persistent, unrealistic deadlines that require burnout to meet; shifting, unachievable targets for my role; my successes being downplayed or attributed to other team members; decreasing instead of increasing opportunities for professional development and leadership; team members being pitted in competition; unprofessional language, condescension and rudeness from senior colleagues; and the boundaries of my work responsibilities being significantly altered without my awareness or approval. After being patient with this conduct for more than half a decade, I complained, but the leaders company policy directed me to raise this complaint to were uniformly apathetic to the bullying and after delaying the complaint by more than a year, did not take any action visible to me to address it or hold the now-several individuals engaged in this conduct accountable. The bullying continued, and despite being dedicated to public service, loving the clean energy space and having a strong desire to work here initially, finding it deeply depressing to continue working under these conditions, I ultimately exited. In the beginning this seemed like an incredible opportunity to make a positive difference for New Yorkers and I do know other employees who have had a different experience, but in practice my experience with this organization was deeply troubling.
