Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

Avoid non-technical managers if you can, especially when you’re new to a team or XOM. Incompetent managers often lean on so-called mentors, usually people who’ve been around longer and somehow stablished themselves , and those "mentors" pass along their own messy, poorly defined tools, models, or tasks. You end up cleaning up their problems while they present it as guidance or support. In reality, they’re just fixing their own mess through you, and when evaluation time comes, they can point to your work as proof they were helping. Why the people they “mentor” often get ranked low? because the mentor wants to protect their own top spot. They push mentees into lower rankings to stay safe for another cycle. Part of mentor evaltion should be expecting high ranking for mentees... They’re also deeply involved in assigning projects and controlling visibility for whoever they want, so they end up effectively managing the group instead of the actual manager.